Heavy rain pours down on Hajj pilgrims at Arafat
Arafat: Torrential rains poured down on pilgrims on Saturday as they performed their rituals in Arafat during Hajj.
While some rushed for cover, many others ran to the streets to pray. In Islam, Muslims believe that the their prayers have a higher chance of being answered when it rains.
Streets began to flood within minutes of the showers, leaving muddy puddles and cooling those making their spiritual journey to and from Arafat.
Many pilgrims began to help others in need of shelter and offered clothing for those who were drenched in the rain.
The civil defense cautioned pilgrims to stay safe and to avoid low ground prone to flooding and from touching metal objects.
“I feel so happy, I feel as if my Hajj has received more mercy from Allah,” a pilgrim told Arab News in reference to the rain.
Pilgrims in the Arafat area were hit by heavy rain and thunder storms on the second day of Hajj. (AN photo/Huda Bashatah)
Pilgrims in the Arafat area were hit by heavy rain and thunder storms on the second day of Hajj. (AN photo/Huda Bashatah)
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West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee moves SC against SIR
New Delhi (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state, sources said on Sunday.
The petition names the Election Commission (EC) and the chief electoral officer of West Bengal as respondents. It was filed before the apex court on January 28, the sources said.
Banerjee arrived in Delhi on Sunday. She is scheduled to meet Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar at 4 pm on Monday to discuss the ongoing SIR exercise in West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo would be accompanied by a delegation of party leaders.
She is also likely to meet party MPs in the Parliament House on Monday.
Talking to reporters at the Kolkata airport before leaving for the national capital, Banerjee claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre is resorting to the SIR exercise because it is certain of its imminent defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls, due in a few months, and said the saffron party should contest the election politically and democratically.
The West Bengal chief minister has written several letters to the CEC, raising concerns over the conduct of the exercise.
In her most recent letter to the CEC on January 31, she alleged that the methodology and approach of the exercise went beyond the provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the relevant rules, causing "immense inconvenience and agony" to citizens.
Earlier, TMC leaders, including Rajya Sabha MPs Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen, had moved the apex court, challenging certain aspects of how the SIR is being carried out in West Bengal.
