PERFORMANCE of Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and mandatory for all Muslim adults who have the physical and financial ability to do so. At present over hundred thousand men and women perform Hajj every year. Eight days are required to complete the formalities of Hajj and another two days are required for return journey by air. But usually there is a gap of 35 to 40 days between the flight schedules for journey to Jeddah and return to Bangladesh given to our people who go to perform Hajj. Consequently, not only time length is longer than actually required, additional expenses are also incurred by Hajj performers.
It happens mainly because of fewer flights from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia and vice versa. Much shorter time length is required for performance of Hajj for people from Europe and USA. The matter needs to be looked into by authorities concerned. The Bangladesh Biman (BB) and Saudi Airlines which mainly perform the responsibility of carrying the pilgrims from Bangladesh should take steps to increase the number of flights so that the time length involved in performing Hajj is significantly reduced and a lot of money saved. Usually, Biman hires aircraft from outside and the number of such aircraft is inadequate.
Mohd Ashraf Hossain
8/A, Ramna, Dhaka-1000.
