ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is set to launch today, Tuesday, the second phase of mandatory training for Hajj pilgrims, the Pakistani religion ministry said, with 142 workshops scheduled to be held in 72 cities nationwide.
Pakistan conducted its first phase of training for Hajj pilgrims in Jan. that continued across the country until late Feb., with intending pilgrims trained via audio-visual devices and other materials.
Pakistani religious affairs minister Sardar Muhammad Yousaf has said that around 90,000 pilgrims are expected to perform Hajj under the government’s scheme this year, promising to ensure the best possible facilities for them.
As part of the second phase, Hajj workshops will be held in Islamabad, Mirpur Khas, Mirpur Mathilo, Qila Saifullah, Chakwal and Pishin districts on Tuesday, while training sessions will be held in Hyderabad, Mirpur Mirs, Zhob, Qila Abdullah, Chaman, Daki, Ziarat, Mianwali and Nowshera districts on Wednesday.
“The second phase of Hajj pilgrim training will continue until April 24,” the Pakistani religion ministry said. “Overseas Pakistanis will receive training at the relevant Hajj camps after returning home.”
Training programs will be held in Tando Adam, Nowshehro Feroze, Loralai, Haripur, Khushab and Kohat districts on April 10, while workshops in Benazirabad, Dadu, Mardan and Dera Ismail Khan districts will be held on April 11, the religion ministry said.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed in Jan. the Hajj 2025 agreement, under which 179,210 Pakistani pilgrims were supposed to perform the annual pilgrimage under the government and private schemes.
However, the South Asian country failed to fulfill its private Hajj quota of pilgrims, prompting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week to constitute a three-member inquiry committee to probe why Pakistani authorities had failed to comply with the Kingdom’s Hajj 2025 policy and consequently lost the quota.
Pakistan will begin its Hajj operations on Apr. 29, when the first flight carrying Hajj pilgrims will depart from the eastern city of Lahore to Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan to launch today second phase of Hajj training for pilgrims
https://arab.news/pv55g
Pakistan to launch today second phase of Hajj training for pilgrims
- The second phase of training program will include 142 workshops in 72 cities nationwide
- Overseas Pakistanis will receive training at the relevant Hajj camps after returning home
Pakistan, seven Muslim nations back Palestinian technocratic body, stress Gaza-West Bank unity
- The National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip was announced on January 14
- Muslim nations call for consolidation of the ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Thursday welcomed the formation of a temporary Palestinian technocratic body to administer Gaza, stressing that it must manage daily civilian affairs while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank amid the ongoing peace efforts.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates said the newly announced National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip would play a central role during the second phase of a broader peace plan aimed at ending the war and paving the way for Palestinian self-governance.
“The Ministers emphasize the importance of the National Committee commencing its duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of the people of Gaza, while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ensuring the unity of Gaza, and rejecting any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.
The committee, announced on Jan. 14, is a temporary transitional body established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and is to operate in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the ministers said.
The statement said the move forms part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza, which the ministers said they supported, praising Trump’s efforts to end the war, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and prevent the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The top leaders of all eight Muslim countries attended a meeting with Trump in New York last September, shortly before he unveiled the Gaza peace plan.
The ministers also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, early recovery and reconstruction and the eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to administer the territory, leading to a just and sustainable peace based on UN resolutions and a two-state solution on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
