Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Tall claims of the Ministry of Religious Affairs regarding excellent arrangements for Hajj this year have been proven false, as the Pakistani pilgrims faced a lot of problems in Saudia Arabia, from airport to reaching their temporary residences.

A Pakistani family told Daily Times that they had to wait for several hours to get clearance at the Medina Airport, adding that the passengers coming from other countries were allowed to go much earlier. They said they were provided residence at the top floor of a building named ‘Markazia’ where lifts were out of order, adding that pilgrims that came from India, Turkey and Bangladesh dwelled at first, second and third floor of the building respectively.

Owing to unusable lifts, Pakistani pilgrims had to carry their luggage to the top floor by stairs, leaving the elderly, women and children frustrated.

They also protested on the quality of food that was provided to them. They said that the roti provided to them was dry and hard to eat while many people preferred turning to bakeries for bread.

The people who were deployed to serve Pakistan pilgrims remained busy in making illegal money by selling mobile sims for 70 to 80 riyals, whereas the original price of that sim was just 5 riyals.

When Daily Times contacted the Ministry of Religious Affairs joint secretary, he said that the ministry has not received any complaint from any corner thus far.

He said that all Pakistani pilgrims were informed that in case of any complaint, they should contact on the telephone numbers given on the cards provided to each of them, adding that if there were any problems regarding food or residence, it would be resolved as early as possible.

He said that a proposal was floated to make contract with a company for the provision of mobile sims to pilgrims, but the idea was shelved to save the pilgrims from extra burden. He said that any negligence in providing residence and food to Pakistani pilgrims would not be tolerated and strict action would be taken against those selling sims to Pakistani pilgrims on higher prices.