Pakistan’s problems have increased due to the new policy made by Saudi Arabia for Haj pilgrimage in Mecca, the holiest city of Islam. Saudi Arabia has decided that instead of 905 companies, now only 46 companies will conduct Haj from Pakistan. Pakistan had also asked Saudi to review its decision but Saudi Arabia did not agree. After this, Pakistan has made a policy of short duration Haj pilgrimage.
On Monday, Pakistan’s Religious Affairs Minister Aneeq Ahmed told the Senate panel that the Ministry of Religious Affairs has planned to start short-term Haj pilgrimage in the new policy. He said that it would soon be presented before the caretaker federal cabinet for approval.
According to a report in Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune, during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Religious Affairs, the minister said that the government is concerned about the huge decline in the number of companies operating Hajj from Pakistan due to Saudi Arabia. Can’t do much. During the meeting, committee member Maulana Abdul Karim said that there will be problems if the operations of 905 companies are reduced to 46 companies.
In response, Minister Ahmed said, ‘We cannot do much about it, but we can request leniency from Saudi for one year.’
Committee member Maulana Faiz Muhammad said that the new scheme should be implemented from next year. He said, ‘We will have to solve the problem by talking to the Saudi Arabian authorities.’
Saudi did not agree to review the decision
The minister said he had asked Saudi Arabian authorities to review the decision, but they did not agree. He said that a letter can be written to the Saudi Arabian government informing them that there may be some problems in implementing this decision because it has been taken suddenly.
The Pakistani minister said that the Saudi Arabian government is planning to increase the number of Hajis to one crore. He also said that till now the Road to Mecca project was running only from Islamabad to reach Mecca, but the Saudi Arabian government has decided that this project will also run from Karachi in the next Haj. Ahmed told the committee that the Haj Policy 2024 will soon be presented before the Cabinet for approval.
Haj pilgrimage duration will be reduced
Pakistan Minister Anik Ahmed said that from next year there is a proposal to reduce the duration of Haj pilgrimage from 45 days to 18-20 days. He said that the Government of Pakistan will try to ensure that the cost of short-term Hajj also remains at par with the regular period. He said that it will depend on the Hajis whether they want to stay in Saudi for a longer or shorter period.
Regular Hajj package usually lasts for 35 to 50 days, which includes hotel, food and transportation expenses. This year 40 thousand people from Pakistan went to Saudi Arabia for Haj pilgrimage.