ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities have been providing all essential services to aspiring pilgrims from the federal capital and its nearby cities at the Hajj Complex in Islamabad, a senior religious affairs ministry official said over the weekend, to fulfil the requirements specified by the Saudi government.
The kingdom allowed Muslims from across the world to participate in the annual Hajj pilgrimage after a gap of two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With a maximum age limit of 65, Pakistan will be sending 81,132 pilgrims on the spiritual journey this year, out of which 32,000 will perform Hajj under the government scheme while the rest will be facilitated by private operators.
“In keeping with the directions of the Saudi authorities, we are providing pilgrims all services under one roof,” Director Hajj Complex Haseeb Ahmed Siddiqui told Arab News on Saturday. “This includes training of how to use smartphones and Hajj applications.”
He said a lot of pilgrims were unfamiliar with advance handheld devices, adding they had to be told how to handle them before being introduced to cellphone apps for this year’s pilgrimage.
Siddiqui maintained people became quite comfortable with the technological system after their coaching was over.
He also informed that his team was working in close coordination with the Saudi authorities to prepare people for Hajj under the Makkah Route initiative to prevent problems at the Islamabad International Airport.
The initiative, which was introduced in Pakistan shortly before the emergence of COVID-19, allows all immigration requirements to be fulfilled at airports of origin. Saudi Arabia has also provided the same facility to other Muslim countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
“We have all the Saudi approved laboratories here at the complex to conduct PCR tests,” Siddiqui said.
He added that Hajj flight operation was also carried out without delay while noting it was scheduled to come to an end on June 30.
Speaking to Arab News, Muhammad Yaqoob, an employee of the Hajj directorate, said the staff members working at the complex also performed biometric of all pilgrims on a cellphone app provided by the Saudi government.
“We are handing over their passports after getting visas stamped on them along with tickets and vaccination certificates,” he continued.
Khizer Hayat, a pilgrim from Sargodha, praised the complex administration, saying its officials had been providing “training, passports, tickets and all other required documents.”
Shamim Amjad, another pilgrim from Rawalpindi, thanked the Saudi authorities for allowing Pakistanis to perform Hajj after a two-year span.
“I feel blessed and happy that I will be performing Hajj right after its resumption,” she told Arab News.
She also praised the kingdom for making the annual Islamic pilgrimage more convenient by introducing cellphone applications and other forms of technology.
Khurshid Anwar Khan, a teacher from Haripur who has been working at the facility as a representative of the Pakistan Boy Scout Association, said that staff members were working for nearly 17 hours a day due to the shortage of time.
“We have been collecting and handing over passports and tickets, facilitating pilgrims with PCR tests and taking care of them during their stay at the complex,” he said.
Khan maintained that training pilgrims to use smartphones alone was quite a demanding task.
“It was time consuming to tell them how to use smartphones and operate relevant applications,” he added.