Karachi:
Nearly 67,000 hopeful Pakistani pilgrims risk losing their ability to perform Hajj allegedly due to system errors that delayed the processing of Hajj applications, and the Saudi online portal closed at its time.
HAJJ Organizer Association of Pakistan (HOAP) has appealed to the President, the Prime Minister and the Army Chief to engage in the Saudi government to seek permission for the pilgrims concerned.
During a press conference at Karachi Press Club, the media coordinator for Hoap, Muhammad Saeed, requested the government to intervene to sort the problem.
He explained that the Saudi digital platform Nusuk was closed to the application’s submission a month earlier compared to the previous year, resulting in questions for those whose visa applications were pending. He requested a 72-hour extension to be awarded them to secure visas for the remaining pilgrims.
He said that Pakistan’s total Hajj quota is 179,210, which is divided equally between the public and private sectors (50 percent each). So far, only 23,000 applications have been confirmed, while 67,000 remain unconfirmed, of which 13,000 applicants have been excluded from the system.
He noted that until 2024, an extension of the Saudi Time Line for submission of applications had been submitted, but this year no such extension has been made in the deadline so far.
Chairman of the Association, Zaeem Akhtar Siddiqui, added that the Government in Pakistan announced that it is only Hajj policy on November 27, 2024. According to this policy, the Ministry of Religious Affairs began to accept installment-based applications only to the Government Hajj scheme from November 28 to March 25 in several phases.
He further explained that on January 14, the Ministry officially allowed the private sector to start receiving Hajj applications. Partial approvals for private Hajj packages were awarded on January 8, and after dealing with deficiencies they were completed by March 18. However, the Saudi System’s deadline was February 21, after which it was closed.
