Dr AFM Khalid Hossain, interim government’s adviser to the Ministry of Religious Affairs; has said the Hajj pilgrims will be able to perform the annual Islamic pilgrimage for a less amount of money.
He said that the government is going to make arrangement of travelling to Saudi Arabia boarding on ships. “We have discussed the proposal with the Saudi authorities to send pilgrims boarding on ship as the people used to travel by ships for Hajj before and after the independence,” he added.
Dr AFM Khalid Hossain said this while speaking at a function at Jamiatual Sunnah Madrasha at Shibchar upazila in Madaripur on Tuesday night.
Chaired by Allama Mahmudul Hasan, the function also was attended, among others, by Maulana Mahfuzul Huq, Maulana Obaidur Rahman Khan Nadvi and Madrasha Maulana Musleh Uddin.
Informing that the Saudi
government primarily has consented to the proposal, Dr AFM Khalid Hossain said, “We have already talked to the owners of the ship companies …at least we want to open a door so that the common people can perform Hajj in a cost-effective way.”
He further said that the Saudi government is very much sincere on overall cooperation to the Hajj pilgrims.
The adviser said the cost of travelling by Biman Bangladesh Airlines now is very high. “We have also discussed it with Biman to reduce the fare and we are hopeful that the Hajj packages would be cost-effective”, he added.
Dr AFM Khalid Hossain recently visited Saudi Arabia where he met with Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr Tawfiq Fawzan Al-Rabiah. The meeting highlighted the ongoing collaboration between the two nations to improve and streamline the Hajj pilgrimage process.
Following the meeting, the Saudi government approved a proposal to send Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims via the sea route, marking a significant shift in how pilgrims may travel to the kingdom.
The Bangladesh government is currently considering sending a trial group of 2,000 to 3,000 Hajj pilgrims via ship as part of efforts to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims.
