Sir: Over 800 pilgrims have died at Mina following a stampede in hot humid weather because of unknown reasons as two passages were blocked by the Saudi security forces. This gruesome tragedy has occurred shortly after a crane had crashed killing over 100 pilgrims. It is high time that sanity should prevail. In pursuit of commercial gains, the security of pilgrims should not be compromised. There has to be a balance between consumerism, commercialism and dignity of Holy Mosque at Mecca, where high rise hotels almost dwarf Islam’s holiest site located at Mecca, revered by over 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world. Huge profits from religious tourism have blinded traders involved in what should have been a visit accessible to all, with minimum of discrimination in facilities offered to the rich and poor. It has been almost 10 days now and yet over 200 Pakistanis remain missing, which only points to incompetence and sheer criminal negligence of our Ambassador, his staff, Member of Hajj Directorate and hundreds others gone on state expense as members of delegation tasked to serve Hajjis. If Iranians have been able to tabulate their fatalities and casualties, why cannot Pakistan Embassy and hundreds on temporary and permanent posting to Jeddah and Mecca do the same? All it takes is a visit to hospitals and mortuaries, before dead are buried as unidentified causing immense grief to their next of kin. It also lends credence to gossip on social media that delay in announcement, may be deliberate. It is high time that our government regulates the performance of Hajj Tour operators so as to protect Hajjis, instead of powerful lobby that dominates this lucrative trade. Similarly, the Saudi government and custodian of Holy Mosque must be seen taking preemptive measures so that neither heavy construction paraphernalia nor poor crowd control techniques, pose any risk to life of pilgrims. ALI TARIQ Lahore