Pakistan concludes post-Hajj operations for over 160,000 pilgrims

Islamabad: Pakistan successfully concluded its post-Hajj operations 2024 on Sunday, the religion ministry said, during which over 160,000 pilgrims from the country performed the annual Islamic pilgrimage this year. 

Out of Pakistan’s total quota of 179,210 pilgrims, around 160,000 from the country performed Hajj this year through both the government scheme and private tour operators. The annual Islamic pilgrimage was held from June 14-19 during which millions of pilgrims from all parts of the world arrived in Saudi Arabia. 

In a statement on Sunday, Dr. Mirza Ali Mehsood, senior joint secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) congratulated Pakistani pilgrims on their safe return and completion of Hajj rituals. He thanked the MoRA staff, Hajj Moavineen or assistants, and the Pakistani Hajj Medical Mission for their relentless efforts in facilitating pilgrims during the post-Hajj phase. 

 “Moavineen and ministry staff, comprising officials and officers of grade 7-21, are deployed to serve these guests of Allah in the Holy lands of Makkah and Madinah,” Dr. Mehsood said. “They are required to take care of guests of Allah. We should shun our arrogance, status, and authority while serving the Guests of Allah.”

The MoRA official said the duty to serve pilgrims must be taken as a “rank-less” assignment, adding that one does not know when they would ever be blessed with such an opportunity again hence they should make the most of it. 

Zia Ur Rehman, the director of Hajj in Madinah, praised the operation’s success, saying that MoRA facilitated Pakistani pilgrims in food, accommodation and transportation. 

“He noted that due to demolition and new construction, it was very difficult to get accommodations in Markazia Madinah, but with our efforts, we arranged all accommodations for Pakistani pilgrims in Markazia, a significant achievement,” MoRA said. Rehman shared that 66,000 Pakistani pilgrims had visited the Riaz ul Jannah, the area between the pulpit and the grave of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Madinah. 

MoRA said it had introduced several new initiatives this Hajj, which included the launch of the Pak Hajj app, free SIM cards for pilgrims, and the appointment of Hajj Moavineen who qualified after passing the National Testing Service (NTS) exam. He said these initiatives greatly assisted Pakistani pilgrims throughout their holy journey.

“Jamil-ur-Rehman, Assistant Director, praised the Pak Hajj app as a successful and unique initiative that kept pilgrims in constant contact with the ministry,” the statement said. “The app provided access to complaints, training materials, accommodation details, flight schedules, and other services, greatly aiding pilgrims throughout their journey.”

Mushtaque Asghar, another MoRA official, said 36,900 complaints were received through the Pak Hajj app out of which 34,979 were successfully resolved. 

PIA CONCLUDES OPERATIONS

Pakistan’s national airline also announced in a statement it had concluded its post-Hajj operations on July 21. The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said its Hajj operations kicked off on May 9 and continued till June 11 while the post-Hajj operations commenced from June 20 and lasted till July 21. 

“A total of 143 flights were operated in the post-Hajj operations out of which 61 went to Jeddah and 82 to Madinah,” the airline’s spokesperson said in a statement. “A total of 34,663 pilgrims returned to their pilgrims after performing their rituals.”

Of these, 19,278 were pilgrims who had performed the Hajj through the government scheme and 14,754 through the private tour operators, the airline said.