Hajj pilgrims on way to a flight
Jehangir Hussain
The government is contemplating to reduce the Hajj expenditures, State Minister for Religious Affair Faridul Haq Khan said on Tuesday.
The Religious Affairs Ministry has requested the Saudi government to re-consider this year’s Hajj expenditures, he said at an ‘intra- religious dialogue’ at the collectorate conference room in Jamalpur.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,05,568 pilgrims have completed their registration under private management, and 9,825 under government arrangement to perform Hajj this year.
"We requested the Saudi government to reduce the cost of Hajj. An announcement will come from the government on Wednesday in this regard," Faridul Haq Khan said.
According to the State Minister, the Saudi government increased the cost by around Tk one lakh for each pilgrim as they added some new facilities for Hajj pilgrims.
“I am going to Saudi Arabia to rent houses for Hajj pilgrims. I am not aware regarding any decision of the ministry,” Additional Secretary (Hajj) of the Religious Affairs Ministry Md Matiul Islam told the Daily Observer.
“A total of 1,15,393 pilgrims have registered their names for performing Hajj. We hope more people will complete their registration,” Deputy Secretary (Hajj) of the Religious Affairs Ministry Abul Kashem Muhammad Shaheen said.
This year, Bangladesh has been allocated the quota of 1,27,198 pilgrims for performing Hajj.
On February 1, the government fixed Tk 6,83,018 as Hajj cost, including Tk1,97,797 as air fare for each pilgrim, up from last year’s.
The increased Hajj cost drew sharp criticism as it is higher than that fixed by neighbouring countries.
The High Court Division on March 14 questioned how common people will perform Hajj at the cost set by the government.
It questioned, "Why doesn't the government allocate budgets for Hajj like other countries in the world?"
A bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Ali came up with this observation while hearing a writ petition over increasing the Hajj cost by the government this year.
The bench asked the authorities concerned to take initiative to cut the Hajj cost.
On 17 March, the Ministry of Religious Affairs gave directives to the authorities concerned to rationally reduce Biman’s airfare for Hajj pilgrims.
On March 19, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Managing Director Shafiul Azim said, “There is no scope to reduce the fare for Hajj pilgrims this year.”
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