ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a three-member inquiry committee on Thursday to investigate why Pakistan had failed to avail the private Hajj 2025 quota by not complying with certain requirements of the Kingdom’s Hajj policy, a notification by the Cabinet Division said. 

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Hajj Agreement 2025 in January, according to which 179,210 Pakistanis are expected to perform the annual pilgrimage this year. The quota was divided equally between government and private schemes.

Headed by the secretary of the Cabinet Division, the inquiry committee also features the chairman of Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Gilgit-Baltistan’s chief secretary. 

“The Prime Minister, while taking serious notice for non-availing of the private Hajj quota for Hajj-2025 due to non-compliance of the requirements of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has been pleased to constitute an inquiry committee on ‘Hajj Arrangements,’” the notification said. 

It said the committee’s terms of reference would include inquiring why Saudi Arabia’s Hajj policy, revised in 2025, was not implemented by Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony through private Hajj operators.

 

The notification said the committee would also probe the religion ministry’s efforts to get the pre-requisite formalities completed by private Hajj operators by the target date set by the Kingdom. 

The committee would also “fix the responsibility for this serious lapse, depriving thousands of Pakistani pilgrims from Hajj 2025,” it added.

Speaking to a private news channel, Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Tahir Ashrafi praised Sharif’s move, describing it as a “step in the right direction.”

“Due to this, matters related to private Hajj pilgrims will improve in future and the current situation will also come to light, as to what happened and why did the delay take place,” Ashrafi told Express News. 

The Pakistani prime minister chaired a meeting in January to review Hajj 2025 preparations, during which he warned officials the government would not tolerate any negligence in their duties related to the annual Islamic pilgrimage.