Hajj agencies denounce the mandatory 1,000-quota for this year's pilgrimage

The Hajj Agency Association of Bangladesh has rejected the mandatory quota of 1,000 pilgrims for each agency set for this year in compliance with the decision of the Saudi authorities.

Speaking at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity today (9 January) the leaders of the association demanded that the agency-wise quota be cut down to 500 which is as per the earlier provision.

The association claimed that although in previous years the quota of Hajj pilgrims was mandatory from a minimum of 100 to a maximum of 300 people, the Saudi government suddenly changed the rules on December 9 and set the minimum quota at 1,000 people for an agency to send for the pilgrimage scheduled for the first week of June this year.

In compliance with the latest Saudi decision Bangladesh's Ministry of Religious Affairs on January 4 issued a notification setting the minimum quota at 1,000 per agency.

They said that as per the government's earlier instructions, each agency had coordinated 500 Hajj pilgrims and completed all preparations. However, the government suddenly increased the number of passengers from 500 to a minimum of 1,000.

They said that if the Saudi authorities do not move away from such a decision, they will face major problems. In this case, the leaders of the association believed that the intending Hajj pilgrims would suffer financially.

The members of the Hajj Association also claimed that this quota is completely unreasonable and impossible to fulfill. If the quota of 1,000 has to be met there is a possibility of chaos in the Hajj management.

As a result, the pilgrims will not get the services they want. Therefore, they demanded that the quota be kept at 500 and threatened to cancel the Hajj activities if the demand is not met.

Earlier, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah had set a minimum quota of 1,000 pilgrims per Bangladeshi Hajj agency. This information was conveyed to Bangladesh through a letter from the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah on December 9.

Saudi Arabia will allow 127,198 Bangladeshis to perform this year's annual Hajj pilgrimage, according to an earlier announcement from the Hajj Association of Bangladesh.