Pakistan backs Saudi decision to limit Hajj 2020

Qadri says govt to make better Hajj policy next year

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani authorities were in contact with Saudi Arabia and since March regarding the Hajj arrangements and had made it clear that Islamabad would support their decision, Religious Affairs Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri said on Wednesday.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of an exhibition of Ghilaf-e-Kaaba and other Islamic relics in the capital, the minister said that the ministry would refund the money to the Hajj applicants this year, as the Saudi government had decided to arrange Hajj on a limited scale.

Saudi Arabia is our brotherly country. There were constant contacts with the Saudi government regarding the Hajj since March. We made it clear to them that we would accept their decision, the minister told the ceremony.



“The Saudi government has decided to allow this year’s Hajj on a limited scale under strict SOPs [standard operating procedures]. We will refund the Hajj money to the people and in the next year, if the situation improves and we get enough quota, we will make a better policy,” the minister said.

Qadri said that Pakistan had been sending one of the biggest contingents of pilgrims. “The blessings of such a large attendance have been given by Almighty Allah to the Pakistani nation,” he said. “We are grateful to the Saudi government for serving and hosting the pilgrims.”



The minister praised the exhibition at the Centaurus Mall, saying that such events brought spiritual peace to the faithful. “The blessings of Islamic relics will lead to the betterment of the country and the nation,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Board of Investment Punjab Chairman Sardar Tanveer Ilyas that the exhibition of the Ghilaf-e-Kaaba was breath of fresh air amid depressing situation of coronavirus pandemic. He said that virus SOPs would be adhered to during the exhibition, which runs until July 3.