Hajj 2025: ‘Sending 67,000 pilgrims no more in govt’s hands’

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Religious Affairs’ Secretary Dr. Attaur Rehman said that the issue of sending around 67,000 Pakistani Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia in 2025 is no longer in the government’s hands, ARY News reported.

The secretary made the statement during a meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Religious Affairs on the issue of 67,000 Pakistanis—who have been deprived of performing Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, in 2025 due to delays in agreements and payments to the Saudi government.

Senator Malik Amir Dogar presided over the meeting attended by Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Secretary for Religious Affairs Dr. Attaur Rehman, representatives of the Hajj Organizers Association of Pakistan (HOAP) and others.

The secretary also briefed the committee on the new policy introduced by Saudi Arabia, which states that no Hajj group organiser with a quota of less than 2,000 will be allowed. The policy also merged 904 Hajj group organisers into 45 large Hajj companies, Dr. Attaur Rehman said.

Read More: 67,000 Pakistani pilgrims deprived of performing Hajj 2025

The representatives of the private Hajj operators maintained that they are willing to return the pilgrims’ money without deductions if they receive it back from Saudi Arabia. They also offered the deprived pilgrims to facilitate their Hajj journey next year using the amount collected.

The members of Senate’s Standing Committee on Religious Affairs demanded that the pilgrims should receive a full refund

It was revealed in the committee that not only Pakistan got an additional quota of 10,000 for private Hajj pilgrims, but India and Bangladesh have also been given additional Hajj quota. India was given an additional quota of 10,000 out of 52,000 pilgrims.

Earlier in shocking details emerged in the Hajj 2025 scandal in Pakistan, the Hajj Organizers Association of Pakistan (HOAP) revealed that millions of Saudi Riyals in Hajj funds were transferred to the wrong account which jeopardized the pilgrimage of over 67,000 Pakistani pilgrims..

The major financial mismanagement was revealed during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony, chaired by Malik Muhammad Aamir Dogar, in Islamabad.

A HOAP representative claimed that despite not being officially informed of the October 23 deadline for submitting Hajj payments to the Saudi government, private tour operators sent the required funds five days before the deadline.