Travel
Hajj Hajj ban for people over 65 lifted
Dhaka, October 4: Next year, there will be no ban on Hajj for people over 65 years of age. Hajj will also be held in full scale. Minister of State for Religious Affairs Md. Faridul Haque Khan gave this information in response to a question during an exchange of views with the leaders of the newly-elected committee of the Religious Reporters Forum (RRF) at the Secretariat on Tuesday (October 4).
Due to the situation of coronavirus infection, very few people from Bangladesh were able to perform Hajj last year.
When asked how the next Hajj will be, the state minister said, "According to the unofficial talks we have had with the Saudi government, according to what we know about them, this year may be a full Hajj will take place, insha'Allah. It may not be what we had last year, but this time we may be able to do it as as per the ratio."
He said, "The issue of restrictions on 65-year-old may not exist this time either. We have already come to know this thing from them. If it (not preventing people over 65 from performing Hajj), then it will be easy to maintain our series."
The state minister said, "Last year, 10,000 people (over 65 years of age) could not go for Hajj. Among them, 7,000 people replaced them. And the remaining 3,000 people were able to arrange for those who went. If this system is launched next year, We won't have a chance to protect anyone's commitment. Then we have to maintain the entire series. That's good for us."
Faridul Haque Khan advised to do pre-registration for Hajj under the government management and said, "Maybe there is still a chance to go for Hajj next year. Maybe after 10 days it won't be there. 12,000 may have passed. Officially, maybe I can get maximum 15,000. Next year. The Holy Hajj will be held in the last week of June (year 2023)."
In 2019, one lakh twenty-seven thousand people from Bangladesh performed Hajj. The Hajj agreement between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia for 2020 has increased the quota of Bangladeshi pilgrims by 10,000. In 2020, one lakh thirty-seven thousand Bangladeshis had the opportunity to perform Hajj.
