five thousand Bangladeshis will perform Haj this year, said Mohammed Shahjahan Miah, State Minister for Religious Affairs, Bangladesh, who was here recently to finalize an agreement for Haj 2009 with Dr. Fuad Bin Abdulsalam Al-Farsy, Minister for Haj, Saudi Arabia. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Miah shed light on the Bangladesh government's arrangements for the coming Haj. “Recently, the cabinet has amended the National Haj Policy and has introduced a new Haj package, which is in compliance with the Saudi government's new rules requiring all pilgrims to have international passports instead of pilgrim passes,” he said. “The government makes all arrangements for ballotee pilgrims while approved private agencies organize Haj for non-ballotee pilgrims,” said Miah. A web site which provides certain services to the people, such as, informing them about Haj-related public and private organizations, has been operating successfully since last year, he said. “In the past, many Bangladeshi pilgrims have suffered because of the mismanagement and irregularities caused by some Haj agencies. But things will be different this year. A new rule stipulates the size of the residence to be rented by the pilgrims as 4 sq.m., as opposed to the previous year's 3.5 sq.m., in Makkah, and 5.5 sq.m. in place of the previously 4.5 sq.m in Madinah,” said Miah, congratulating King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for the Haramain Railway Project linking the Jabl Omar area to Makkah-Jeddah Highway, which is expected to be used by over 60 percent of Haj and Umrah pilgrims each year. He thanked the Saudi government for its successful management of the Haj each year.
