Following the acquisition of an additional Hajj quota, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf stated on Sunday that the government is actively engaged in efforts to facilitate the travel of the maximum possible number of pilgrims to fulfill this sacred religious obligation.
His statement came a few days after the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony announced that a total of 23,620 pilgrims from Pakistan will be able to perform Hajj in 2025 under the Private Hajj Scheme, while the fate of the remaining 67,000 applicants remains uncertain.
Speaking on Geo News’ program ‘Naya Pakistan’ today, the religious affairs minister revealed that an additional 10,000 Pakistanis have been granted permission to undertake the pilgrimage privately.
Last week, Saudi Arabia granted Pakistan an additional Hajj quota, allowing 10,000 more pilgrims to perform Hajj this year, following a request made by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.
Taking to his X (formerly Twitter) account, DPM Dar expressed his gratitude to the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al-Saud, for granting the additional Hajj quota.
The minister stated: “We are striving to enable as many of the 179,210 applicants as possible to perform Hajj. Of these, 50% are proceeding under the government scheme, and their arrangements are complete.”
Providing further details, the minister mentioned his visit to the Kingdom and his meeting with his Saudi counterpart to discuss matters related to the Hajj arrangements.
“We requested that they [the Saudi Arabian government] extend the deadline so that our pilgrims are not left behind,” he added.
Responding to a query about refunds for those unable to travel to the Kingdom, the minister clarified: “According to our Hajj policy, agreements are in place with tour operators under which the procedure [for booking Hajj] has been conducted.”
“If money has entered the system under that procedure, it is duly recorded. Those unable to perform the pilgrimage have the right to a refund.”
