Indian legal expert: Saudi Arabia is fully responsible for Mina crush
A senior lawyer of the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday put the responsibility of the disastrous stampede in Mina on the Saudi Arabia government and called for filing a case against Riyadh in the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
Dr. Romesh Gautam, said, “The Saudi Arabia is totally responsible for the incident in Mina. Occurrence of the incident is nothing but a total mismanagement of the Hajj ceremony by the Saudi government.”
As per the established conventions, when we visit a particular county, the host county is fully responsible for our safety there. But the Saudi government has totally failed in ensuring the safety and security of the Hajj pilgrims during the current Hajj ceremony”, he added.
Terming the Mina incident as a “pure security lapse”, Dr. Gautam said, “No doubt, the Mina incident in which a large number of people lost their lives was not an act of God. But, it was purely a security lapse and the Saudi government is fully responsible for it.”
“Saudi government should compensate the losses inflicted on the victims of the incident”, the seasoned legal expert added.
Expressing his readiness to fight on behalf of victims of the Mina incident in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the Saudi government, Dr. Gautam said, “The Saudi government should be tried in ICJ. I fully support this cause and I am ready to help the family members of the victims to get justice. Every county that has lost its nationals in the incident should go to ICJ.”
Emphasizing the need for management of the Hajj ceremony by a joint committee of the member states of the Organizations of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), he added, “Given the repeated disastrous incidents during the Hajj ceremony in the recent years, it would be better if a joint committee of the member states of the OIC mange the ceremony to avert such incidents in future.”
“India has lost a number of its nationals in the Mina incident and New Delhi also should support this idea”, Dr. Gautam added.
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