Sri Lanka seeks bigger Haj quota this year

RIYADH: Sri Lanka has sought an increased Haj quota for the forthcoming Haj pilgrimage during a meeting between Haj Minister Bandar Hajjar and visiting Muslim Religious Affairs and Posts Minister M.H.A. Haleem in Jeddah on Thursday.
Haleem, who is leading a five-member delegation on an official invitation from the Saudi government, also met various government and private sector officials connected with Sri Lankan Haj operations in Makkah and Madinah.
The other members of the visiting team included Abdul Hameed Mohamed Fowzie, state minister of national integration and reconciliation; Mohammed Thaha Mohamed Ziyad, member of Haj Committee; W.G.R .Farook, head of Haj Travel Operators; and B.A.C. Mohammed Rameem, coordinating secretary.
Sri Lankan Ambassador in Riyadh Azmi Thassim and Acting Consul General M. S. M Ansar were also present at the meetings held in Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah.
Speaking to Arab News following the meeting Hajjar, Haleem said that this year Sri Lanka has requested for an increased quota from the current 2,840 to 7,000 pilgrims from Colombo.
“Last year, we got a quota of less than 3,000 for Haj pilgrims because of development works in the Two Holy Cities. The island has more than three million Muslims and there are more than 8,000 applicants for Haj,” he said.
The Lankan minister said his Saudi counterpart hinted of an increased Haj quota this year and that the country will soon be informed about it.
He said that Colombo needs an increased quota of pilgrims since the Muslims in the island are now free to travel in and out of the country following the end of the ethnic conflict .
“We have successfully wiped out terror from the shores of Sri Lanka and formed a new government which advocates ‘Yahapalanaya’ (good governance) under the able leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena,” Haleem said, adding that the new president has categorically said that he would not allow racism to affect any minority communities in the island.