JEDDAH, 8 June 2004 — Visiting Pakistani Minister for Religious Affairs Ejazul Haq met Haj Minister Iyad Madani here yesterday and discussed steps to improve services for Pakistani pilgrims. They discussed holding a Haj training workshop in Pakistan in the last week of July for pilgrim guides from SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries.
Saudi Arabia would provide training to the guides on aspects of Haj at the workshop which would be held under the auspices of the Saudi Ministry of Haj. The two sides decided to hold another meeting tomorrow to discuss Umrah policy.
The Pakistani minister briefed his Saudi counterpart on Pakistan’s new Haj policy which will remain in place for five years “and is subject to amendments if needed”, Ejaz said.
He said 140,000 Pakistanis were expected to perform Haj this year and that Islamabad would seek a larger pilgrim quota from the Saudi government. The pilgrims performing Haj this year will do so under both government and private schemes. The minister said the government would make all arrangements for those in the government scheme, including issuing passports, obtaining visas and arranging accommodation and transportation.
Arrangements for those performing Haj under the private scheme will be made by Haj group organizers. He said Haj service agents and Haj group organizers were being brought in line under an organized system according to Saudi laws so that their activities could be watched and those flouting the laws punished.
He said those who have performed Haj during the last five years will not be allowed to go. However, those going as a mehram, a group leader or offering pilgrimage for others will be allowed.
Ejaz said Haj applications under the government scheme would be accepted from June 21 to July 26 and under the private scheme, from June 21 to July 19. He said a pilgrim’s stay in the Kingdom would be about 40 days. Ejaz told the Saudi minister about the problems Pakistani Umrah pilgrims face in the Kingdom.
In a meeting between Ejaz and Dr. Adnan Katib, chairman of the Tawafa Organization for South Asian Pilgrims, the two men decided that the Pakistani Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Tawafa Organization would share information pertaining to pilgrims. The meeting was attended by Baharullah Khan Hazarvi, director Haj, and Sohail Ali Khan, press attaché at the Consulate General of Pakistan.
