Karachi:
Nearly 67,000 Pakistani grass pilgrims are likely to lose their opportunity to carry out the HAJJ due to system errors that have delayed the processing of Hajj’s requests and the Saudi online portal closed on its deadline.
The association of organizers of the Hajj of Pakistan (HOAP) called on the President, the Prime Minister and the Head of the Army to engage with the Saudi government to request the permission of the affected pilgrims.
At a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, the Hoap media coordinator Muhammad Saeed asked the government to intervene in order to solve the problem.
He explained that the Nusuk Saudi digital platform was closed for the submission of the application one month earlier compared to the previous year, leading to problems for those whose visa applications were pending. He asked for an extension of 72 hours given to them in order to obtain visas for the remaining pilgrims.
He said that the Total Hajj quota of Pakistan is 179,210, which is also divided between the public and private sectors (50% each). Until now, only 23,000 requests have been confirmed, while 67,000 remain unconfirmed, of which 13,000 candidates have been excluded from the system.
He noted that until 2024, an extension had been granted in the Saudi calendar for submission of requests, but this year, no extension of this type has been made so far in the deadline.
The president of the association, Zaeem Akhtar Siddiqui, added that the Government of Pakistan announced its Hajj policy on November 27, 2024. Under this policy, the Ministry of Religious Affairs began to accept applications based on episodes only for the HAJJ government program from November 28 to March 25, in several phases.
He also explained that on January 14, the ministry officially allowed the private sector to start receiving requests from the Hajj. Partial approvals of private hajj packages were granted on January 8, and after tackling shortcomings, they were finalized on March 18. However, the deadline for the Saudi system was on February 21, after which it was closed.
