Rs25000 Commission Per Haji Taken In Pakistan !!!
Rs25,000 commission per Haji taken in Pakistan: envoy
Monday, November 22, 2010 By Tahir Khalil
ISLAMABAD: Pakistans Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Umar Khan Ali Sherzai has said if the tour operators are asked to take oath on the Holy Quran, they will tell about those who drew commission of Rs20,000 to Rs25,000 per Haji in Pakistan.
Talking on telephone from Riyadh, he held the minister for religious affairs responsible for the poor arrangements made for Pakistans Haj pilgrims this year. He said the Pakistani Hujaj could not get transport and tents in Mina due to the poor policies of Hamid Saeed Kazmi.
Umer Sherzai called for setting up a high-level judicial commission, comprising Supreme Court judges, so that those responsible for difficulties faced by the Hujaj could be taken to the task. Ali Sherzai said he was sure that those responsible for the poor Haj arrangements at the holy land would be discredited in this world.
About his own services for Pakistans Haj pilgrims, he said: The minister tried his level best to keep me away from each and every arrangement. However, after observing pathetic conditions of Pakistani pilgrims, I went to the office of Muasasa South Asia chairman Adnan, accompanied by Haj Director Sultan Shah and Farogh Zaidi, to request him to provide some relief to the Pakistani Hujaj, he added.
He said supplementary tents, water tankers and makeshift bathrooms were made available to the Pakistan Hujaj due to his timely intervention. But thousands of Hujaj could not get these facilities.
He said he had prayed in Mina that Allah Almighty award exemplary punishment to those who had fleeced the Hujaj. Umar Sherzai said a Haj conference should be convened soon after the Haj operation was over.
I will also attend the conference and am ready to suggest measures to improve the arrangements in the light of my experience to evolve a national Haj policy, he added.
He set aside the claim of the minister that he had held meetings with King Abdullah and Prince Naif. The king is sick and has not held meetings with anybody, the ambassador explained.
He appreciated the governments decision to include the Foreign Ministry in Haj arrangements. The role of Pakistans ambassador is also crucial, as he remains updated regarding the situation in Saudi Arabia, he said. He said his tenure had already ended and his successor would hopefully be in a better position to serve next year.
Our correspondent adds: Talking to reporters, Science and Technology Minister Azam Khan Swati asked the prime minister to sack the minister for religious affairs for being the main culprit in poor Haj arrangements scandal.
Taking to task the director general of Haj is not fulfilling the basics of the justice until the central character of the scandal who is Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi is not proceeded against, he added.
The federal minister said it was a grave injustice to the pilgrims, who were put to the miseries owing to the corruption by the Haj minister, director general and other people in the ministry. It is a proven fact after the report submitted by the Senate inquiry committee some three months ago that the minister for religious affairs is the central character involved in the kickbacks and embezzlement in the Haj scam and the prime minister should immediately take him to task after sacking him, Azam Swati said.
Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi retaliated by pointing out that sections of the media had in the past carried reports about the corruption of Minister Azam Swati and his colleagues. Denying that he took kickbacks or embezzled public funds, he asked Swati to provide evidence to back up the allegations.
Azam Swati said it was against the interest of the country that funding for the social uplift sector under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was enhanced to Rs80 billion from 35 billion and budget for science and technology which was central to the development and prosperity of the country was reduced to Rs16 billion from Rs33 billion. He said the BISP was a worthless and valueless programme.
He said corruption in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was at its peak, adding the people of the province would make the Awami National Party accountable in the election in future.
The minister said the surge in the sugar prices had been made due to the inability of the federal cabinet because it fixed the price of the commodity at Rs65 per kg and was being sold at Rs130 in the markets owing to no check.
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