- Pakistan hopes “Road to Makkah” project will be extended to other cities after 30,000 pilgrims benefited at Islamabad airport this year
- The county’s post-Hajj flight operation will begin from August 17
ISLAMABAD: Nearly 200,000 Pakistani pilgrims have reached Saudi Arabia to perform one of the most sacred religious rituals as annual Muslim pilgrimage begins in Makkah today.
The Hajj is among the five pillars of Islam that is mandatory for all adult Muslims who are financially and physically capable to undertake the journey at least once in their lives.
It is a combination of different rituals that last for five days in Makkah and three other places – Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat — on the outskirts of that city.
This year, around 30,000 Pakistanis availed the pre-departure facility at the Islamabad International Airport under ‘Road to Makkah’ project.
“The pre-Hajj flight operation has concluded successfully with zero complaints from pilgrims,” Imran Siddique, spokesperson for the Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Arab News from Makkah.
Lauding the Saudi government for its cooperation, he said the Pakistani pilgrims were given “the best” accommodation, transportation and food facilities in both Makkah and Madinah.
“Our pilgrims who have benefited from the Road to Makkah project this year are particularly thankful to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for extending the facility to Pakistan,” Siddique said, hoping the project would also be extended to other airports of the country in the coming years.
Pakistan was included in the ‘Road to Makkah’ project during a February visit to Islamabad by the Saudi crown prince, after which it was announced that all pilgrims traveling from Islamabad airport would benefit from pre-departure immigration facility. Malaysia and Indonesia are already part of the project.
A team of Saudi officials set up the pilot immigration program at the Islamabad International Airport in July which provided immigration facility to about 30,000 Pakistani pilgrims flying from the country’s federal capital. The project helped these pilgrims save 10 to 12 hours of waiting time at Saudi airports.
Siddique said that Pakistani Hajj pilgrims were allotted 13 Makaatib [service offices] in train zone, 23 in old Mina and 24 in new Mina. About 54,000 Pakistani pilgrims would avail train facility, he added, while buses had been arranged for the rest of the pilgrims for their movement in the area where Hajj rituals are performed.
Pakistan’s post-Hajj flight operation will continue from August 17 to September 14 this year.