The religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said that the ministry was taking all possible steps to facilitate the pilgrims and that only the minimum financial burden has been passed on to the people.
He said that the increase in fares was the result of price hikes and the devaluation of the Pakistani rupee. Kazmi said that though Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had proposed a hike of Rs13,000 in the fare, only Rs6000 was increased.
He added that the Hajj package given by the Pakistani government is cheaper than any other country’s.
Moreover, Kazmi said that while pilgrims used to be given 650 riyals upon reaching Saudi Arabia, they will now be given 900 riyals. Also, this year tents will be rented in Mina to facilitate pilgrims.
The senators, however, were not satisfied with these explanations and said that the matter should be looked into. Chairman Senate Farooq Naek asked the Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs to review the Hajj policy and present its report within seven days.
Senators Ghulam Ali and Kalsoom Parveen, while criticising the ministry, said that pilgrims were not facilitated by the ministry’s officials deputed in Saudi Arabia during Hajj.
Senators also discussed other issues, including the remarks made by advocate Akram Sheikh in the Supreme Court regarding public representatives. They said he should apologise for calling lawmakers illiterate and should be summoned in the house. Otherwise, it will stand to prove that we are illiterate, said Senator Haji Adil. Senators said that lawyers should not transgress their limit, adding that judges and lawyers have in the past acted as tool in the hands of military dictators.
Meanwhile, Naek directed Interior Minister Rehman Malik to attend Tuesday’s session to brief the Senate on the security situation in Lyari.
Speaking on a point of order, Hasil Bizenjo said that Lyari has become a hideout for hooligans and drug peddlers. Over 300 people have been killed since the incumbent government came to power, and now even Pakistan People’s Party MNAs and MPAs cannot go there. However, Malik said that an operation against criminal gangs in the area is being carried out.
Moreover, the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Naveed Qamar informed the Senate that employees of the ministry on three-year contracts would be regularised during the current month. He said that the ministry has already regularised employees that were on five-year contracts.
Commenting on the Transparency International report, Malik said that the government stands for transparency in all fields of life and the report regarding increasing corruption in Pakistan is vague and fictitious. He added that there is a possibility that the organisation is working to malign Pakistan.
Responding to a point of order regarding the baton charge against lady health workers
in Islamabad on Thursday, Malik said that a committee has been constituted to probe the matter. Agencies
Published in the Express Tribune, June 5th, 2010.
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