Karachi:
Almost 67,000 Pakistani pilgrim applicants run the risk of losing their opportunity to perform the Hajj supposedly due to system errors that delayed the processing of Hajj applications and the Saudi online portal closed its deadline.
The Association of Hajj Organizers of Pakistan (HOAP) has appealed to the president, the prime minister and the head of the Army to be involved with the Saudi government to seek permission for the affected pilgrims.
During a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, the HOAP media coordinator, Muhammad Saeed, asked the government to intervene to solve the problem.
He explained that the Saudi Nusuk digital platform was closed for the presentation of the application a month before compared to the previous year, which resulted in problems for those whose visa applications were pending. Requested an extension of 72 hours to be granted to ensure visas for the remaining pilgrims.
He said that the total Hajj quota of Pakistan is 179,210, which is divided equally between the public and private sectors (50 percent each). Until now, only 23,000 applications have been confirmed, while 67,000 remain unconfirmed, of which 13,000 applicants have been excluded from the system.
He pointed out that until 2024, the extension had been granted in the Saudi timeline for the presentation of applications, but this year, so far such extension has been made on the deadline.
The president of the association, Zaeem Akhtar Siddiqui, added that the Pakistan government announced its Hajj policy on 2024. According to this policy, the Ministry of Religious Affairs began to accept requests based on deliveries only for the Hajj government scheme from November 28 to March 25, in multiple phases.
In addition, he explained that on January 14, the Ministry officially allowed the private sector to begin receiving Hajj applications. Partial approvals for Hajj’s private packages were granted on January 8, and after addressing deficiencies, they were completed before March 18. However, the deadline of the Saudi system was on February 21, after which it was closed.
