Parliament can privatise Haj operations: Kazmi

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

ISLAMABAD – Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi came down hard on the Pakistani Ambassador in Saudi Arabia during NA Standing Committee meeting alleging that the latter was intentionally doing his character assassination after his failed attempt to get the slot of chairmanship in Residence Hiring Committee.
The Hiring Committee was responsible for renting out buildings for Pakistani Hujjaj in Saudi Arabia. The minister during the committee meeting confessed some mismanagement in the Haj affairs on the part of his ministry but ruled out the possibility of any corruption. National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Religious Affairs met here on Friday in the concerned ministry under the chairmanship of Maulana Mohammad Qasim to overview the Haj scam. The minister as well as the secretary of Ministry of Religious Affairs attended the meeting.
Kazmi, while ruling out the possibility of any corruption in the affairs of Hajj, said that he was ready to fight his case at every forum. “Hajj policy, 2010 was formulated after due consultations with the Parliament and the Ministry is ready to privatise the whole affairs of Haj if parliamentarians want”, the minister asserted.
He said that the Pakistani Ambassador in Saudi Arabia, Omar Khan Ali Sher Zai, wanted to become the chairman of the hiring committee that had to rent out buildings for Hujjaj. He was doing his character assassination after failing to get this slot.
Kazmi alleged that the ambassador was called back from Saudi Arabia on charges of corruption five years back and he again wanted to bring the Hajj affairs under his control. The minister alleged that the ambassador instigated Pakistani Hujjaj to protest against his ministry in Mina.
However, the NA Committee viewed that there were other culprits involved in Hajj scam other than ex-Director General (DG) Haj, Rao Shakeel while working in the Ministry and stressed the Government to arrest them. Federal Secretary of Ministry of Religious Affairs, Agha Sarwar Raza Qazlabash while briefing the committee said that ex-DG Rao Shakeel hired 81 buildings at the rate of 3,500 Saudi riyals (SRs) per Haji in the first phase. He said that in the second phase, he himself hired 129 buildings at the average rate of 2200 SRs whereas acting DG Haj Sultan Shah hired 38 residences at the rate of 1600 SRs.