Saudi Prince's Letter to CJ is Genuine !!!
Saudi princes letter to CJ is genuine
By M Saleh Zaafir ISLAMABAD: The letter written by Saudi Prince Bandar bin Khalid bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud to the Chief Justice of Pakistan alleging that substandard accommodation on exorbitant rates was provided to the Haj pilgrims from Pakistan in Makkah by the Government of Pakistan has turned up to be genuine.
The foreign ministry has been informed about this by Pakistan Ambassador in Saudi Arabia, Alhaj Umer Khan Ali Sherzaie, through his D/O letter. The official confirmation from the Saudi Foreign Office is being followed, as the ambassador took up the matter with Alla-Din Al-Askari, chief of protocol Royal State of Saudi Arabia.
Well-placed sources told The News here that the envoy had verified the authenticity of the communication to the Foreign Office here upon the information supplied by Pakistans Consul General in Jeddah Abdul Salik to him, who has reported to the embassy after a probe that the letter has been duly written by His Royal Highness, the Prince, who has a distinguished status in the Royalty.
The letter was dispatched to the Chief Justice of Pakistan late last month and Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary ordered the Ministry of Religious Affairs to report to the court within 15 days. The orders were made on 3rd of November. Later, the matter was also referred to the Foreign Office.
The Supreme Court, in its communication on the day, declared, The Honble Chief Justice of Pakistan received a letter purportedly written by Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, alleging that substandard accommodation on exorbitant rates was provided to the pilgrims of Pakistan to Makkah-tul-Mukarramah by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Government of Pakistan. It has further been alleged that hired buildings were 3.5 km away from Haram whereas he had offered to the Government of Pakistan to provide the buildings nearer to the Haram on cheaper rates. On the letter, the Honble Chief Justice of Pakistan passed the order, This issue seems to be serious and may cause bad name for our government. Call for comments from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and this matter may be brought in the notice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Accordingly, comments were received from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Honble Chief Justice of Pakistan passed the following orders: Copy of the comments be sent to Ministry of Foreign Affairs to look into this case in continuation of our earlier order. Let Foreign Office take up this matter on government to government level.
The Saudi prince told the Supreme Court that Pakistans Ministry of Religious Affairs is indulging in corruption while dealing with Haj pilgrims, the reports said. We offered cheaper accommodation within two kilometres of the Haj congregation venue but (this was rejected).
Our offer was 3,500 Saudi Riyals per pilgrim but the Pakistani authorities rented out the accommodation, he said. The Pakistani pilgrims are still being charged 3,500-3,600 Saudi Riyals for this accommodation although the rent at such a far-off location is not more than 1,500 Riyals under any circumstances, he stated.
Prince Khalid said in the letter that there (is) concrete evidence of financial bungling and departmental corruption as far as the Haj affairs of Pakistani ministry is concerned. He urged the court to take note of the alarming situation.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed the secretary in-charge of the ministry to furnish a detailed response on the accusations made in the letter within 15 days. Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi told the National Assembly on the following day: We have not received any such letter from the Saudi prince.
I have seen such reports only in the media. I want to assure that we will hold a thorough probe and stringent action will be taken against officials if proven guilty. As many as 160,000 Pakistanis went to Saudi Arabia this year.
Interestingly, secretary religious affairs ministry disputed the credentials of the letter as he was also supported by the minister subsequently. Now the minister has gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj with his family members as the leader of Pakistans delegation.
Well-placed sources told this scribe that the federal secretary was part of the team that accorded the approval to the hiring of disputed accommodation and the officials of the same ministry are carrying out the investigations.
(
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