KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Shamim Ahmed Firpo has asked the Saudi government to review and withdraw the decision taken by the Council of Saudi Arabian Ministers to charge 2,000 riyals as visa fee from pilgrims during Umrah season, 1438. Shamim Ahmed Firpo, in a statement issued on Wednesday, pointed out that Pakistan, being the second largest Islamic country in terms of population, sends around 1 million pilgrims every year to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah, but being an developing country, majority of the country’s population belongs to middle and working class, hence such a huge amount of fee to be levied on Umrah pilgrims would surely overburden them and result in substantial reduction of Umrah visitors to the holy land. He said that although the Saudi Embassy and its consulate in Karachi have not issued any formal notification so far about the revision of Umrah fee, but various reports in print and electronic media along with widespread stories in social media indicate that the Saudi Arabian Council of Ministers has taken the decision to revise the Umrah fee and fee of other visa categories. “The upsurge in Umrah fee has triggered anxiety amongst the masses, particularly those individuals, who have limited incomes,” he added. While referring to numerous media reports appearing in a number of Saudi news websites, the KCCI president mentioned that the Saudi government would not charge any fee from the pilgrims, who would be performing Umrah for the first time. However, the fee of 2,000 Riyals was for those intending to perform Umrah again in the same Hijri year. He was of the view that the decision to charge 2,000 Saudi riyals from Umrah Pilgrims would deprive thousands of Pakistanis to visit the holy land for performing this important holy obligation as most of the population would surely be unable to afford such an exorbitant hike in Umrah visa fee. While taking into consideration the historic and time-tested relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Shamim Firpo was fairly optimistic that the Saudi government would pay attention to Karachi Chamber’s request and would issue directives to withdraw the said charges to facilitate millions of Pakistani Umrah pilgrims. KCCI President, in letters issued to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, appealed to take up this issue with Saudi authorities with a view to ensure relief for the intending Umrah pilgrims.