ON the eve of Idul Adha, Religious Affairs Minister Muhammad Maftuh Basyuni was awake all night. He had heard that the meals for 189,000 Haj pilgrims in Arafah and Mina were delivered late. As a consequence, they had to go hungry. Their thin robes failed to protect them from the cold wind. This shameful situation happened again the next day. All I could think of was that some of them might die, he said.

The following days were exhausting for Maftu