A total of 78,000 Bangladeshi pilgrims out of total 85,257 registered for pilgrimage this year have already received their visa from the Saudi Arabian government.
Of the rest 7,257 pilgrims, visa application for 1,870 haven yet been submitted though the deadline for visa application extended twice till to date while procedures for visa issuance for the rest is on, according to the Hajj Office of Ashkona under the Religious Affairs Ministry.
According to the Hajj office, visa applications for 1,870 pilgrims of six Hajj agencies haven yet been submitted. The agencies are Worldlink Tours and Travels (286), Ansary Overseas (255), Al-Risan Travel Agency (444), Mikat Tours and Travels (375), North Bengal Hajj Travels and Tours (260) and Holy Darunnazat Hajj Overseas (250).
The Religious Affairs Ministry on Tuesday issued a notice against the six Hajj agencies for not submitting visa applications for the huge number of pilgrims and asked them to show the cause within Wednesday (May 15), according to the notice signed by ministrys Senior Assistant Secretary Muha Abu Tahir.
According to the notice, the six Hajj agencies haven yet submitted their visa applications even after repeated pressure from the authorities concerned.
According to the statement of the Hajj office, some 17,031 Hajj pilgrims have already reached to the Saudi Arabia from Bangladesh till Monday. Another 3,321 pilgrims have left Dhaka on Tuesday with eight dedicated flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines and FlyNas.
Beginning from May 9, the Hajj flights will continue till June 12 this year as the Hajj procedures will start on June 14 and continue till June 18.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, in another notice issued on Monday, directed Hajj agencies to enter flight data in Saudis e-Hajj portal on time.
At the same time, the agencies have been warned not to take Qurbani money from the pilgrims, reads a press release signed by Abu Bakar Siddique, the public relations officer of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Apart from this, Hajj agencies have been cautioned against sending Zarda cartons through Hajj pilgrims, which hampers the countrys image.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs issued these instructions after a virtual meeting with Abdur Rahman, director general of the Jeddah Airport Service of the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, around 7:30pm Bangladesh time on 12 May.
The Bangladesh Hajj Office, Makkah and Jeddah officials as well as representatives of Hajj agencies also participated in this meeting. During the meeting, dissatisfaction was expressed over agencies not entering the requested flight data on Saudi Arabias e-Hajj system. The lack of data makes it difficult for the Madina and Jeddah airport authorities to keep track of Hajj pilgrims.
As a result, they have no way of knowing how many pilgrims are on which flight, which Muallem they are under, and which hotel or house they are staying in, etc. Other than this, there is also the problem of arranging transportation for the pilgrims and their luggage. Moallems representatives are often not providing services at the hotels or homes.
Due to this, appropriate services are not being provided to the pilgrims, limiting their access to the benefits of the route-to-Makkah, said speakers at the event.
If flight data is not entered correctly, disciplinary action will be taken against the agency concerned, warned the religious affairs ministry.
Although it is forbidden in the Hajj package, many agencies are charging pilgrims for Qurbani before completing Hajj. Pilgrims will perform the Qurbani according to their wishes either by purchasing a Saudi government bank coupon, or by their own arrangement.
Agencies will not be allowed to take the Qurbani money in any way. The Ministry of Religious Affairs said that legal action will be taken against agencies violating this rule if specific complaints are receive.
