The Hajj visa application period was from March 1 to April 29. During this period, many of those wishing to perform Hajj under private management could not apply for visas. One of the reasons for this is the inability to rent houses for Hajids in Saudi Arabia. However, the Ministry of Religion and private Hajj agencies are blaming each other for this crisis. The pilgrimage of a large number of pilgrims has become uncertain in this situation. For this reason, the Ministry of Religion requested that the Saudi government extend the visa application until April 25. Considering the situation, the application period for the Hajj visa has been extended until May 7. Meanwhile, Hajj flights will officially start on May 9.
Regarding the extension of visa application time, the Secretary of Religion, Mu. Abdul Hamid Jamaddar, said, "Most of the pilgrims who want to go to private management have not yet been able to apply for a visa. One of the reasons for this is not being able to rent a house. It is not even possible to apply for the visas of so many pilgrims within a few days."
"We requested the Saudi government and embassy to extend the Hajj visa application period, citing the crisis. At the same time, the Hajj agencies will apply for visas during this period," he added.
"The Saudi Hajj and Umrah Ministry has extended the Hajj visa application period for Bangladeshi Hajis from April 29 to May 7 in view of the request of the Minister of Religion. Everyone must apply for a visa during this period," said President M Shahadat Hossain Taslim, President of the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAB).
However, the owners of the operating Hajj agency say that since many pilgrims have not been able to apply for visas, there is doubt whether all of the 78 thousand 895 pilgrims registered under private management will get visas or not.
"Even though I submitted money for my house rent to the government, the Ministry of Religion did not send the money to the IBN account. At the same time, the Moyallem visa was also not approved. Hajj has to be managed by facing these challenges this time," said Habibullah Muhammad Qutubuddin, the owner of Al-Qutub Hajj Travels, on behalf of the owners of the Hajj agencies in a press conference on April 24.
The HAB and the government are practically blaming each other in the prevailing situation.
HAB President M Shahadat Hossain Taslim told the Khaborer Kagoj, "Although the agencies have deposited the money for house rent in due process, the Ministry of Religion has not yet sent the money to the IBN account in Saudi Arabia. As a result, it is not possible to rent a house in Makkah-Medina. The counselor of the Bangladesh Hajj Mission in Makkah was urged to solve the matter, but no solution was found. The Ministry of Religion is responsible for this."
However, according to the sources of the Ministry of Religion, the ministry is very strict about the agencies engaged in Hajj management this time. So at the time of announcing the Hajj package, it was said that the visa application could be made from March 1 to April 29 this year. However, during this period, more than half of the pilgrims did not apply for visas. Besides, many agencies did not deposit the money on time. As a result, it takes time to transfer this large amount of money at the end.
Blaming the agencies, the ministry says that notices were given to the agencies on June 30 last year to rent houses for the pilgrims. But they did not give importance to this issue. The rent of government-run Hajj pilgrims' houses ended in February. Now, for the last time, they are blaming the ministry for not being able to rent the house. Every time they put pressure on the ministry by doing these things.
Umrah Hajj
Meanwhile, the Saudi government has recently changed the rules regarding Hajj and Umrah Hajj management. As part of this, Saudi Arabia has said that Umrah can be performed on any visa from now on. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Affairs of the country received this information in a message on April 24. The message says, 'Umrah can be performed from any country with any visa. Irrespective of your visa type, you can perform Umrah. Be it family, transit, labor, or e-visa, there is no obstacle to performing Umrah."
In this situation, it has been alleged that many who want to perform Umrah are in trouble by giving money to various agencies. When asked about this, Habibullah Muhammad Qutbuddin, the owner of Al-Qutub Hajj Travels on behalf of the agency owners, said, "Due to the new rules, the Saudi government suddenly stopped issuing Umrah visas. However, they will start issuing Umrah visas again after the completion of Hajj activities. In this case, the Hajj aspirants can withdraw the money from the agency if they want, or they can apply if the Saudi government starts issuing Umrah visas again.
