Amid confronting situation between the government and leaders of the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) regarding the newly introduced Hajj management system of the Saudi government, its apprehended that more than 30,000 Bangladeshi pilgrims may  face mismanagement and sufferings during this years Hajj likely to held on June 16.

According to the Hajj agencies, as the Hajj agents couldn yet complete hiring houses for their pilgrims at Makkah and Madina and paying fees for accommodation at Mina, Arafah and Muzdalifah, uncertainty has been created regarding the accommodation of around 28,000 Bangladeshi pilgrims.

Blaming the Religious Affairs Ministry officials  for the failure to arrange Munajjem visas for sending their representatives to hire houses and sending their money to the IBAN (International Bank Account Number) for payment of Saudi fees, leaders of HAAB urged the higher authorities of the government to interfere in the system, so that the pilgrims can perform Hajj smoothly without any harassment and sufferings.

However, the Religious Affairs Ministry high officials concerned claimed that some problems have arisen due to the newly introduced system by the Saudi Arabian government. But, those have been almost resolved. If the Hajj agents deposit their money in the government account, it would be sent to the IBAN.

At a views exchange meeting of the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) held on Tuesday night, HAAB President M. Shahadat Hossain Taslim claimed that due to the negligence of the government authorities, some 28,000 Bangladeshi pilgrims may not get accommodation facilities in Mina and Muzdalifah, the major component of the Hajj, one of the main component of Islam.

In the programme, Taslim claimed that most of 280 lead Hajj agencies haven yet got Monajjem visas to hire houses at Makkah and Madina and pay their fees for Mina, Arafah and Muzdalifah in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi government has changed the system of paying their part of Hajj expenses this year due to negligence of Bangladesh government. As a result, the Hajj agents have to pay money to the governments account. The government will transfer it to the IBAN. As the agents haven got visas, they couldn get their money back to their accounts for paying to the Saudi authorities. It created uncertainties. As a result, they will face problems in arranging accommodation at Mina, Arafah and Muzdalifah, he added.

In previous years, only a single Saudi agency looked after the Hajj matters. The Saudi authorities  approved 18 local agencies last year for the work. Of the Saudi agencies, Rifat Company failed to handle Hajj issues last year and an investigation was conducted against their  their failure.

But, some of Bangladeshi Hajj agents have dealt with the disputed company this year as it was in the list of the 18 agencies. As a result, the Bangladeshi Hajj agents and their pilgrims may  face similar problems like the previous year, he claimed.

While talking to this correspondent on Thursday, Taslim blamed the government authorities for the disaster and claimed that the Hajj agencies may face problems in sending  their pilgrims on time as the Hajj flight will  start on May 9, without completing the rental process of accommodation.

Regarding the allegations of the HAAB president, Religious Affairs Ministrys Additional Secretary (Hajj) Md Motiul Alam told this correspondent that its unfortunate that the HAAB leaders have been raising their voice at press conference, instead of communicating  with the government to resolve the crisis.

He claimed that some of Hajj agents have dealt with the disputed company Rifat agency despite knowing their previous activities to make more profit and creating problems for the pilgrims. The government is sincerely observing the situation, so that no pilgrim suffers.

Regarding money sending to the IBAN, the additional secretary said that the Hajj agents are not assisting the government. After getting the letter from Saudi Arabia, the government opened a dedicated account on February 6 and asked the Hajj agencies to deposit their money in it. But, they hadn deposited the money duly. They have deposited only Tk1,100 crore to the account against the demand of Tk2,200 crore.

"But, the government has already transferred around Tk1,300 crore to the IBAN from its own fund to ensure smooth management of Hajj. What can the government do now, if they don deposit their money? We are working on the matter," he added.

Regarding Monajjem visa, Motiul Alam said, "This year, Saudi government removed the system of Monajjem visa as its similar to the Umrah visa. The representatives of the Hajj agents can travel everywhere with the visa.

 But, as the Saudi government stopped issuing Umrah visa ahead of the Hajj, the agents now can travel with Business Visa. They should try for business visa."