The government’s indecision with regard to 12 Hajj agencies, banned by Saudi authorities last week, created uncertainty whether or not 3,455 aspirant pilgrims would be able to perform Hajj under private management, officials said.
Bangladesh government allowed these agencies to take the Hajj aspirants to Saudi Arabia although they faced allegations of irregularities during last year’s Hajj, they said.
Neither the government nor the Hajj Agencies’ Association of Bangladesh has taken the responsibility of these Hajj aspirants although each of the banned agencies took over Tk three lakh per head from the aspirants, officials said.
‘The uncertainty facing the 3,455 Hajj aspirants is unlikely to be over before Eid as the Saudi authorities will hold the hearing from August 20 for the banned agencies to explain the allegations against them,’ religious affairs secretary Kazi Habibul Awal told New Age.
He said that Bangladesh government would request HAAB to arrange their pilgrimage in case the ban against the 12 agencies was not lifted.
The secretary, however, said that the government was expecting that the Saudi authorities would review their decision as the agencies committed ‘minor’ deviations.
On August 6, the religious affairs secretary held an inconclusive meeting with the representatives of the banned agencies, said an official.
Bangladesh Hajj Office in Makkah in a letter to the religious affairs ministry on July 31 reported that the Saudi government had imposed the ban on 12 agencies — Columbia Travels International, Fast Bangladesh Travels Agency, Islamia Overseas Limited, Air Metco International, Hollywood Tours and Travels Private Limited, Air Peace Travels Limited, Shah Daud Travels, New Imam Travels, Sayem Travels and Tours International, Bab-E-Madina Travels and Tours, Mostafa Air Travels and World Link Tours and Travels — for a host of irregularities they alleged committed last year, including supplying food to the pilgrims, arranging accommodations and handling the pilgrims, said officials.
This year 354 private agencies signed agreements for sending 1,09,623 pilgrims and 2,900 others are expected to perform Hajj under government’s management.
‘We would take the responsibility of the 3,455 pilgrims if the Saudi authorities do not lift the ban on the 12 agencies,’ HAAB president Jamal Uddin Ahmed told New Age on Thursday.
If necessary, he said, HAAB representatives would take up the matter with Saudi authorities after Eid.
Hajj officer Bazlul Haque Biswas, however, said that it would not be possible for the government to take the responsibility of these pilgrims in case the ban remains in force.
‘We made all the arrangements including accommodations in Makkah and Madinah for the pilgrims who would perform Hajj under government management. And in case HAAB does not take their responsibility, the aspirants would have to wait for the next year to perform Hajj,’ he added.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited and Saudi Arabian Airlines are expected to announce their Hajj flight schedules next week.
The crisis might deepen further for the pilgrims who would perform Hajj under private management if the government does not intervene in time as private Hajj operators did not yet rent houses in Makkah, citing the ground that Biman and Saudi Airlines were yet to announce their Hajj flight schedules, several Hajj aspirants expressed the apprehension.
-With New Age input
