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For millions of Muslims around the world, visiting Makkah and Madinah is a lifelong aspiration.
For 10 Sri Lankans selected by the Saudi Arabian Embassy, a journey to Islam’s two holiest cities became much more than an opportunity to perform Umrah. It was also an experience of religious learning, cultural exchange and international friendship that offered fresh opportunities to introduce Sri Lanka to the wider world.
The delegation participated in the King Salman Guests Programme for Hajj, Umrah and Tourism, held from October 6 to 19, alongside approximately 250 distinguished participants from around 24 countries.
The programme honours Islamic preachers and individuals who have rendered valuable services to Muslim communities in Islamic countries and countries where Muslims live as minorities.
For the Sri Lankan participants, the experience combined the spiritual fulfilment of Umrah with visits to important Islamic sites, meetings and religious guidance sessions, and opportunities to exchange views with people from different countries.
A moment of learning and fellowship: Sri Lankan delegates in the company of a distinguished Arabic scholar during the King Salman Guests Programme in Saudi Arabia
It also offered a platform to showcase Sri Lanka’s tourism potential, cultural heritage and local products to an international audience.
Makkah: Where faith brings the world together
Makkah occupies a unique place in the lives of Muslims. At Al-Masjid al-Haram, the Grand Mosque, pilgrims gather around the Holy Kaaba, united by their faith despite differences in nationality, language and culture.
The city welcomes visitors throughout the year, with particularly large numbers during Ramadan and the Hajj season. Unlike Hajj, which takes place during a prescribed period, Umrah can be performed throughout the year, subject to applicable arrangements and regulations.
Receiving such large numbers of visitors requires extensive coordination. Accommodation, transport, crowd management, security, sanitation, accessibility and healthcare are all essential to ensuring that pilgrims can concentrate on their religious obligations.
The experience of visiting Makkah therefore extends beyond the rituals themselves. It also reflects the organisation required to accommodate people arriving from across the globe, many of whom are visiting Saudi Arabia for the first time.
Older pilgrims, families with children and people with disabilities or medical conditions may require additional assistance. Clear directions, accessible facilities and appropriate transport arrangements can make a significant difference to their experience.
For the Sri Lankan delegation, the journey offered an opportunity to appreciate the religious significance of Makkah while gaining a broader understanding of the services required to support the millions of people who visit the city.
Healthcare: Caring for the guests of the holy cities
Healthcare is an important consideration in destinations receiving large numbers of pilgrims and international visitors.
Long journeys, extensive walking, hot weather, dehydration and fatigue can present challenges, particularly for older people and those with existing medical conditions. Access to emergency treatment, medical advice and preventive healthcare is therefore an essential part of pilgrimage management.
Saudi Arabia provides healthcare services for pilgrims and Umrah performers through hospitals, primary healthcare facilities, emergency services and ambulance teams. Health education and preventive measures also play an important role in supporting visitors.
The scale of these services was illustrated in a report issued by the Saudi Ministry of Health in March 2025, which stated that more than 65,000 healthcare services had been provided to Umrah performers and visitors in Makkah and Madinah by the 25th day of Ramadan. The services included emergency consultations, primary healthcare, surgical procedures, cardiac catheterisation and kidney dialysis.
Such arrangements demonstrate that caring for pilgrims involves much more than facilitating their arrival and accommodation. It requires medical preparedness and the capacity to respond to a wide range of health needs.
Visitors also have a responsibility to prepare for their journeys by carrying prescribed medication, maintaining hydration, allowing sufficient time for rest and following official health advice. Those travelling with elderly relatives or people requiring regular medical attention need to take particular care.
For countries receiving large numbers of religious visitors, the coordination of transport, accommodation, public safety and healthcare is an important part of providing a safe and positive experience.
Madinah: Walking through Islamic history
The delegation’s visit to Madinah provided another deeply meaningful dimension to the programme.
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the Prophet’s Mosque, is one of Islam’s most revered sites. For Muslims, visiting the mosque offers an opportunity for prayer, reflection and a deeper appreciation of the life and teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The delegation also visited the historic Quba Mosque and Mount Uhud, which is associated with a major battle in early Islamic history.
The programme included exhibitions presenting the history of the Prophets and the revelation of the Holy Quran. A three-dimensional exhibition explaining the history of revelation offered participants an engaging visual perspective on important events in Islamic history.
The delegation also visited the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran, an important institution involved in producing and distributing copies of the Quran in different languages and editions.
These visits brought religious learning into closer contact with historical places and educational displays, helping participants appreciate the importance of preserving and presenting Islamic heritage to visitors from around the world.
Religious guidance from the Two Holy Mosques
An important highlight of the programme was the opportunity to attend sessions featuring prominent imams of Islam’s two holiest mosques.
In Madinah, the participants attended a programme featuring Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Suleiman Al-Muhanna, imam and preacher of Al-Masjid an-Nabawi.
In Makkah, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Juhany, imam of Al-Masjid al-Haram, addressed programme guests during an orientation session.
Their participation added a significant religious dimension to the programme, providing guests with opportunities to benefit from guidance in the two sacred cities.
The messages delivered during the programme emphasised the importance of understanding Islamic teachings, fulfilling religious responsibilities and maintaining high standards of personal conduct.
They also highlighted the importance of unity, tolerance, mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence with people of other faiths.
These principles are particularly relevant to societies where people from different religious and cultural backgrounds live together. Mutual respect and recognition of the rights of others are essential to social harmony, while intolerance can deepen divisions and undermine peaceful relationships.
For participants returning to their home countries, the messages provided an opportunity to reflect on how religious values can be translated into everyday life through fairness, compassion, responsibility and respect for others.
A journey beyond religious boundaries
While the religious significance of the programme was central, the opportunity to interact with participants from different countries added another valuable dimension.
The Sri Lankan delegation was able to introduce its homeland through conversations about the country’s tourism industry, cultural heritage, local products and other aspects of national life.
Participants from other countries also showed interest in learning more about Sri Lanka and exploring the possibility of visiting the island.
Such personal exchanges can be particularly valuable in promoting tourism. Formal advertising and promotional campaigns have their place, but conversations between people from different backgrounds can create a more personal connection with a destination.
Sri Lanka offers a wide range of attractions, from historical and religious sites to wildlife, beaches, scenic landscapes and distinctive cultural traditions. Its multicultural heritage and reputation for hospitality also provide opportunities to build closer connections with visitors from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries.
The interest expressed by participants in visiting Sri Lanka was therefore encouraging. Their inquiries about the country and the arrangements needed to travel there demonstrated how international programmes can create opportunities for tourism promotion through direct interaction.
For Sri Lanka, these connections could help introduce the country to new audiences, encourage future visits and strengthen cultural and economic relationships.
Sri Lanka as an international ambassador
The experience also highlighted the role individuals can play in promoting their countries abroad.
Each participant who shares information about Sri Lanka, answers questions about its attractions or encourages a visitor to explore the island contributes to building awareness of the country.
Such informal exchanges can complement the work of tourism authorities and other institutions seeking to expand international connections.
The relationships established during the programme may continue after the participants return home, creating opportunities for further dialogue, cultural engagement and tourism-related contacts.
For a country seeking to diversify its tourism markets and strengthen international partnerships, these personal connections are valuable.
More than a visit to the holy cities
The King Salman Guests Programme brought together religious fulfilment, historical learning, cultural exchange and international friendship.
For the 10 Sri Lankans selected by the Saudi Arabian Embassy, the opportunity to perform Umrah and visit important Islamic sites was complemented by the experience of learning about Saudi Arabia, listening to religious guidance and interacting with people from different parts of the world.
The visit also enabled them to share their own experiences and introduce Sri Lanka to an international audience.
Ultimately, the journey was about more than visiting sacred places. It was an opportunity for spiritual enrichment, learning and friendship, while allowing the Sri Lankan participants to act as informal ambassadors for their homeland.
For Sri Lankan Muslims and the country as a whole, the programme represented a valuable opportunity to strengthen international relationships, promote mutual understanding and share Sri Lanka’s story with the wider world.
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The 2026 US midterm elections may have been the most globally watched American elections. The results have exceeded all expectations in America and in the world. The vote is a resounding slap to the American President, louder than the defeat of Viktor Orban in Hungary or that of Aleksander Vucic in Serbia. While Orban and Vucic were able to manipulate their political systems and stay in power for well over a decade, the US system has seen to it that Trump will be kept within his term limits. Yet the same system allows Trump to continue in office for two more hectic years. In a parliamentary system, Trump would have had to leave the White House the day after the vote. In any event, he will be gone in two years. What will happen till then is predictably unpredictable like the man himself.
How it matters for the rest of the world is reflected in the comment made by Austria’s Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger: “independent of the elections outcome, our security and prosperity in Austria and Europe must not depend on how people in Kansas or Iowa vote.” More than American voters, it may be Trump and Elon Musk who determine the security limits of America’s allies in Europe, through the satellite-based Starshield weapon system that Musk’s Space X company creates and supplies to the US government.
Around mid-October, allegedly at Trump’s behest, Musk is said to have remotely restricted Ukraine’s battlefield use of Starshield that Ukraine receives from the US government. According to Ukraine, the restriction that was done without notice weakened its capacity to ward off Russian drones. The news alarmed NATO allies and created a storm in Washington. Both Republican and Democrat lawmakers have been calling for investigation and accountability. The midterm results are a big impetus to kickstarting such an investigation.
There will be other investigations into the carnival of corruption that the Trump’s presidency has become in its second term. Musk himself will likely be subjected to intense scrutiny. His brutal approach to downsizing government and slashing USAID overseas will be one area that will be investigated. Another would be to find out how Musk’s businesses have benefited from laxed regulations and easy permits at the federal and state levels of government in the last two years.
Hoping to forestall Congress investigations, Musk bankrolled nearly half a billion dollars to protect his Republican guardians in Congress and in State governments. His gamble to control the course of politics has spectacularly backfired. Now it is up to Congress with its new electees to show that they can hold to account America’s powerful and the wealthiest, without burning itself in the process.
The midterm’s implications for the Iran war and its continuing economic havocs are not clear. There have been mixed reports on Trump’s intentions. One report is that a deal with Iran was 80% ready for signing before the midterm. According to another, Trump had advised Gulf States that he will resume a new round of attacks on Iran after the midterm. The midterm results have strengthened the opposition to the war among Republicans in Washington, with Vice President JD Vance, the consummate chameleon of contemporary American politics, squarely blaming the war for the Republican defeat. Not without the quiet concurrence of his boss.
Congress Republicans are also riling up to impeach Pete Hegseth, Trump’s handpicked and self-named Secretary of War, likely for incompetence and potential war crimes. Unless Hegseth resigns soon, the present House Republicans want him impeached before the end of the year and steal a political march on the new Congress led by Democrats that will take over in January. All of this puts President Trump in a bind and will force him to take a diplomatic route to end the war. For the rest of the world and for all Americans, the end of the war and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz cannot come any sooner. To their credit, American voters have made it clear that they do not want a resumption of attacks in the Middle East.
The midterm results are revelatory at multiple levels. They show American electoral democracy at work, in a country of 350 million people, synthesizing myriads of local variations and conflicts of age, gender, race, religion, education, employment and income into representational outcomes at the State and national levels. The spread and depth of electoral losses came as a shock to Republicans who were resigned to getting the usual midterm knuckle-rap against an incumbent president. Equally shocked are Democrats, not only by their majority margins in the House and in the Senate but also by their victories in States and Districts that they have not won in 30 to 100 years. Even where they lost, Democrats were only inches away, in American Football parlance, from scoring more touchdowns.
At the aggregate level, Democrats have outperformed to historic proportions, reaching the largest popular vote, and the largest House and Senate majorities, since the first post-Watergate election in 1974. Pundits are calling Trump’s midterm punishment as another watershed moment like the Watergate. The vote total for the House elections in all the States corresponds to 400 (out of 538) Electoral College votes in a hypothetical presidential election. The scale of defeat has stopped Trump from making baseless allegations about stolen elections and fraudulent voting. The magnitude of victory presents a new challenge to Democrats as they have to demonstrate to a restive electorate how different and better they will be in comparison to Trump’s Republicans.
Democrats have 215 seats and Republicans 220 seats in the current Congress and had to capture three Republican seats for a bare minimum majority of 218 (out of 435) seats in the next Congress. The tally now is Democrats 253 and Republicans 157, with 25 seats yet to be decided. So far, Democrats have flipped 43 Republican held seats. In the current Senate, there are 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats. With Senate elections held every two years for a third of the Senators every two years, Senate elections were held in 35 States, and Democrats had to win four new Senate seats for a majority of 51. They have captured seven so far, while prevailing in all the 13 States they now hold. The Senate tally is 54 Democrats and 44 Republicans with Alaska and Mississippi yet to be called. Democrats are leading in both and will likely have a comfortable majority of 56 Senators.
In both the House and Senate victories, Democrats made extensive inroads into hitherto Republican territories. Trump had won six of the seven flipped States in his three presidential runs in 2016, 2020 and 2024: Iowa and Ohio in the Midwest; and Kansas, Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina in the South. Democrats have not won statewide election since 1988 in Texas, and not since 1932 in Kansas. In addition to the House and the Senate, Democrats have also won a majority of the Governors’ elections in individual States along with elections to the State legislative bodies and local agencies.
Trump won the 2024 presidential election by attracting young male voters in very large numbers and significantly increasing the traditionally low Republican shares of white working class as well as Black and Latino voters. He won them over by vehemently promising to lower prices and make life affordable again; to take control of immigration and the borders; and to end the wars in Gaza and in Ukraine. Nothing has gone according Trump’s promises or plan, and the midterm results are comeuppance.
His Liberation Day tariffs have taken a toll on American consumers and caused trade precarities for the rest of the world. The war in Iran which he started on a whim has led to price increases in fuel and fertilizers everywhere, and they have hit rural Republican Americans harder than others in America. No one liked the violent crackdown on immigrants, especially Latin Americans who voted for him heavily in 2024. The indiscriminate apprehension of immigrants has created labour shortages in businesses, particularly in the construction industry. Americans across the board finally got disgusted with the level of corruption in the Trump Administration.
While rebuking and restraining the President, the midterm wave is also sending a new cross-section of representatives to Washington and to the State Capitals. The results show quite a number of historic firsts reflecting the diverse American society and rejecting the MAGA aversion to diversity. The most remarkable first is the election of a Muslim American as the US Senator from Michigan. Abdul El-Sayed, the American-born son of Egyptian American parents and highly accomplished Doctor of Medicine, convincingly won the Senate race in Michigan after withstanding a barrage of Islamophobic attacks from the US President at the top to every Republican hack below. According to Alvin Tillery of Northwestern University, “the simplest explanation is that the electorate finally caught up with the country.” In that sense, Trump and MAGA have been trying to fly in the face of the American reality. The midterm has stopped that in midflight.
Continue Reading Features The Sunset Years! Published
Staying away from elderly parents, being overseas or in a different city in India itself, gives rise to that familiar worrisome feeling, a constant sense of anxiety lurking at the back of the mind, along with a lingering sense of guilt for having left them behind in the first place.
Shrinking families, vanishing support systems and busy careers, often result in parents being left to fend for themselves in large houses that pose a security threat, or in apartments with temperamental neighbors and cantankerous housing societies. Thousands of young Indians, either emigrating or changing cities each year for higher education, lucrative jobs or a better lifestyle, are forced to leave behind their greatest treasure – their elderly parents with broad smiles and cheerful exteriors, who hide behind their moist eyes untold stories of loneliness, anxiety, fear and uncertainty that they would rather not share with their children.
Apart from loneliness and the anxiety of being separated, times of illness and emergencies make even simple chores like going to the bank, standing in a queue for a gas cylinder or paying a bill a big challenge, going to the doctor or a dentist becomes an ordeal. Suffering from painful separation, lacking emotional support coupled with physical insecurity, both parents and children live on the hope of reuniting in the foreseeable future, only to find it more and more difficult as the years go by.
However, some children choose to return and do come back to stay with their parents either on a different floor of the same house or in an adjoining floor of a block of flats in the same building. This not only gives elderly parents a facade of independent living yet enables keeping an eye on them to assist them as and when required .
Life rolls on, time flies and very soon, since parents normally do not outlive their children, you have the reverse of the “empty nest ” syndrome. With the passing of the parents it is the children’s turn now to be left alone and face that peculiar emptiness in their lives! They face a void, the anchors that influenced their lives are now gone, their ample presence had been felt on numerous occasions in different ways, actually their proximity had been enough for they knew parents were always there for them. With the parent’s house verily becoming a shrine, simply going back to the house gives rise to a strange indescribable yet painful vacuum, a feeling of emptiness and a realization that they now need to pick up the threads and face the world with fortitude, all by themselves.
While we often hear of elderly parents being left alone and pining for company, there are countless loving and dutiful children who change countries, even cities, sacrificing lucrative careers in the process, to support their parents in their sunset years. Now its the children who have become alone, and got left behind with the burden of memories, an empty shrine to cater to and for a comparatively longer time then the period they joyfully enjoyed with their elderly parents. These children too deserve empathy, do spare a thought for them!
(Priyan R Naik is an author, columnist and independent journalist based in Bengaluru, India and regularly writes columns for Indian, Laotian, Bangladeshi and Malaysian newspapers.)
Floral artistry will lend its beauty to a charitable cause when Ikebana International Sri Lanka Chapter No. 262 holds its annual exhibition, “Blossoms of Hope”, on November 14 and 15 at the Duke’s Rooms, Cinnamon Lakeside.
The exhibition will feature arrangements individually created by members, showcasing their talent in the ancient Japanese art of ikebana. Part of the proceeds will go towards purchasing medication for the Children’s Ward at Apeksha Cancer Hospital, Maharagama.
This year’s exhibits will be grouped by flower type, allowing visitors to discover the different ways members interpret their chosen blooms. Each arrangement will reflect its creator’s approach to composition, bringing together the character of the flowers and the expressive possibilities of ikebana.
With careful attention to line, balance and space, ikebana encourages an appreciation of each element in an arrangement. A branch’s curve, a flower’s angle or the placement of a leaf can all contribute to the overall effect. There will be demonstrations by members held on both days at 4.00 p.m.
The tradition traces its roots to floral offerings at Buddhist altars after Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the sixth century. Over time, these offerings developed into an independent art form. Today, ikebana embraces both established forms and contemporary interpretations.
“Blossoms of Hope” will offer visitors an opportunity to experience this living tradition through the work of the chapter’s members. Its charitable purpose adds a further dimension to the exhibition, connecting the pleasure of viewing flowers with support for children receiving care at Apeksha Cancer Hospital.
The exhibition will be open on November 14 from 11.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. and on November 15 from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m., at the Duke’s Rooms, Cinnamon Lakeside
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