ISLAMABAD – Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood said on Saturday that the training for Hajj pilgrims was mandatory and those who don’t have the certificate of training would not be allowed to proceed abroad.
The minister visited the Haji Camp in Islamabad and cautioned that if anyone misses the training session, it would create issues for the intending pilgrims at the airport, adding that the training would help pilgrims in performing the Hajj rites in an appropriate manner.
The minister was of the opinion that the pilgrims should be acquainted with the local Saudi rules and regulations so that they could have a peaceful and memorable journey.
The religious affairs minister said all intending pilgrims were representatives of Pakistan and so they should express maximum restraint during the pilgrimage.
The minister also examined the available medicines and said previously, the medicines used to provide the pilgrims during Hajj operations were not of good quality.
“I have collected some samples of the medicines while visiting the Hajj medical mission here and these medicines would be sent to a laboratory to examine their quality,” he added.
The minister warned that if any medicine is found sub-standard, the company would be blacklisted and fines would be imposed as well.
The lawmaker told the newsmen that he had never claimed to make state-of-the-art Hajj arrangements under his leadership this year clarifying that he would try his best to provide ease and comfort to the pilgrims.
The minister clarified that the total number of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia might cross 3 million which could create problems.
It is to be highlighted that for Pakistan 50 percent quota had been reserved for Sponsorship Scheme which is a special facility given to Hajj pilgrims seeking foreign exchange from abroad in the specific dollar account of the religious affairs ministry.
For this year, the government had set Hajj expenses at Rs1.175 million per pilgrim, 68% more than the last year’s expenses which apparently became a reason for many of the Muslims to avoid performing the ritual amid sky rocketing inflation.
It is note worthy that this is the first time Saudi Arabia would be welcoming pilgrims in large numbers i.e around 2.3m after the pandemic restrictions have been lifted. Around one million people joined the 2022 Hajj season and only those in age bracket 18 to 65 who were fully vaccinated or immunised against the virus and did not suffer from chronic diseases were allowed to visit the kingdom.
