AS a crisis like situation is evolving over the prospects of denial of Hajj to thousands of applicants, Prime Min-ister Shehbaz Sharif has come out with a welcome assurance that Saudi authorities would be approached to fa-cilitate around 67,000 Pakistani pilgrims whose participation in Hajj 2025 is in jeopardy due to delays in finaliz-ing agreements and payments.
Chairing a high-level meeting on the issue on Friday, he expressed deep concern over the crisis and directed authorities to make every possible effort to ensure the pilgrims’ journey to the holy land.
The PM assured representatives of private hajj organizers present on the occasion that he will personally raise the matter with Saudi officials to secure approval for the affected pilgrims under the private quota.
Saudi authorities accommodated about a quarter of the affected applicants after Deputy Prime Minister and For-eign Minister Ishaq Dar took up the issue with relevant officials and it is now hoped some solution will be found when the Prime Minister raises the matter at an appropriate level.
The Prime Minister has personal rapport with the Saudi leadership and there are bright prospects for a positive response from Riyadh.
There is also need for a considerate approach to the issue by the Kingdom because of the fact that the delay was also contributed by the Saudi online system, which private organizers argue crashed and as a result it could not update data and transac-tions by them within the stipulated timeframe.
The operators also blame the Ministry of Religious Affairs for not allowing them to start the process of Hajj arrangements for unknown reasons but the Ministry says the blame lies on operators who caused deliberate delays.
Whatever the reason, the fact remains it is for the first time that such a large number of intending pilgrims face grim prospects despite making necessary payments and preparations mainly because of lack of required coordination among the Ministry, private Hajj organizers and the relevant Saudi authorities.
It is a scam that needs to be probed in an impartial manner to fix the responsibility and propose recommendations to prevent recurrence of such an embarrassing situation in future.
