ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has deployed trained guides to assist pilgrims during the Hajj pilgrimage, the country’s religious affairs ministry said on Friday, as the number of Pakistani pilgrims arriving in Saudi Arabia surpassed 160,000.
The Pakistani religious affairs ministry each year appoints Hajj guides and support staff, who help Pakistani pilgrims perform Hajj rituals while ensuring they remain informed and organized throughout the sacred journey.
In addition to religious guidance, the support staff provides administrative, medical, and logistical assistance to pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah, ensuring that the pilgrims perform Hajj with ease.
“The [religious affairs] ministry has completed training and appointment of guides for Hajj,” Pakistan’s Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Mohammad Yousaf was quoted as saying by his ministry.
“Each group of 188 pilgrims will perform Hajj rituals under the leadership of a guide.”
Of these over 160,000 Pakistanis in the Kingdom, more than 118,000 are performing Hajj under the government scheme, according to the minister.
The pinnacle of the pilgrimage, the day of Arafat, will take place on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah, corresponding to May 26.
“Hajj pilgrims will be taken to Mina on the night between 7 and 8 Dhul Hijjah,” the religious affairs ministry said, adding that the ratio of complaints about food, meals and transport this year “is less than one percent.”
Yousaf urged Pakistani pilgrims to demonstrate discipline while performing the pilgrimage to further enhance the country’s prestige.
Most Pakistani pilgrims this year traveled to Saudi Arabia under the Kingdom’s Route to Makkah Initiative, which allows travelers to complete immigration and customs procedures before departure from Pakistan.
