Funds for 67,000 Pakistani Pilgrims for Hajj 2025 Mistakenly Sent to Wrong Account

ISLAMABAD:

In a complete shock, millions of Saudi Riyals destination for Hajj 2025 payment has been transferred to a wrong bank account to the peril of more than 67,000 Pakistani pilgrims.

An amounting of 50 million Saudi Riyals was erroneously [deposited]into the account of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in place of the official Saudi Hajj account, said The Hajj Organizers Association of Pakistan (HOAP) to a parliamentary committee. Unfortunately, this mistake caused a more than one month delay in processing those payments.

Private tour operators had submitted the payments five days before October 23 for the HOAP officials. While they said the Ministry of Religious Affairs had not officially informed private operators of the deadline — that it was just through social media channels that information about the final date was found — they argued that the government cannot stop private channels from airing for the 13 hours after Maghrib. The 77,000 pilgrims who use the private Hajj are said to have made payments before February 14.

Although the funds were duly presented in time, Saudi authorities failed to trace it in their system; the process of recovery took a long time and panicked most private tour operators and intending pilgrims. HOAP further claimed that the Ministry was not allowing private operators to collect Hajj application in order to favor government quota pilgrims.

The parliamentary committee meeting ended up triggering an intense reaction towards this issue. The biggest scandal in the country’s history is this and there should be strict accountability for those involved, committee chairman Malik Amir Dogar stated. He suggested the setting up of a special subcommittee to further probe the issue and get Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to resolve the crisis as a matter of urgency.

On the other hand, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf said that he is unaware of the findings of ‘specific inquiry’ but stated that total Hajj quota of Pakistan was not utilized completely. He pointed out that avoiding such mistakes again will be ensured by a committee led by Musadik Malik.

The thousands of pilgrims and their families are in a state of distress, as the seriousness of the matter has left them confused and worried about the way forward, with many still in a dilemma as to whether they will be able to continue with their pilgrimage in 2025 or have the plans further complicated.

Pakistani government now feels the urgent need to recover the misplaced funds and having more transparent and efficient systems for further Hajj arrangements.