Pilgrims registered earlier could perform hajj in 2022 if Covid situation improves

State minister for religious affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan on Wednesday said that if the coronavirus situation improves and Bangladesh gets permission for participating in Hajj by the next year, the pilgrims who have already pre-registered and registered could perform the hajj in 2022 on priority basis.

He was presiding over an inter-ministerial meeting at his ministry's conference room on determining the next steps regarding the registered people for performing Hajj, said a press release.

The state minister said the Hajj was performed in 2020 and 2021 in a limited scale due to the global pandemic Covid-19 while Hajj pilgrims from no country across the world, including Bangladesh, were allowed to visit Saudi Arabia.

Faridul, however, said if any pre-registered and registered people want to withdraw their deposited money, they can do so following the rules and regulations.

Noting that 3,457 people had registered for taking part in Hajj in 2020 under the government management, he said, of them 757 people have been refunded their money as they cancelled registration while the remaining 2,700 still are registered for Hajj.

Besides 61,142 people had registered for taking part in Hajj in 2020 under non-government management, he said, adding that of them 7,719 people have been refunded their money while the remaining 53,423 still are registered.

Mentioning that the registration process under the government and non-government management remained open till 30 April, 2020, the state minister said, no registration was made after this date.

But, Faridul said, the process of pre-registration for Hajj still remains open and added that the number of pre-registered people for Hajj has stood at 5,224.

Secretary of the religious affairs ministry Md Nurul Islam and other officials concerned joined the meeting.