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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday inaugurated the Hajj Programme 2023 (1444 Hijri) at the Hajji Camp in the capital's Ashkona area.
Opening the hajj programme, the premier sought doa from the hajj pilgrims for the people of Bangladesh so that none could play ducks and drakes with the fate of the people of the country, report BSS and UNB.
The prime minister also urged the pilgrims to pray for Bangladesh and its people so that the country can stay protected from any man-made or natural disaster.
“I would like to request you to pray so that any disaster or crisis –either man-made or natural— can’t damage Bangladesh and the people of Bangladesh,” she said.
The first hajj flight is scheduled to depart from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for Saudi Arabia at 2:45 am on Saturday.
This year, a total of 122,221 pilgrims from Bangladesh are going to perform the holy hajj. The number of hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh was 57,585 last year due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 127,198 pilgrims from Bangladesh performed hajj in 2019.
The hajj is expected to be held on June 27 depending on the sighting of the moon.
With State Minister for Religious Affairs Md. Faridul Haque Khan, MP, in the chair, secretary of the ministry Kazi Enamul Hassan delivered welcome address.
State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Mahbub Ali, Habib Hasan, MP, Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Yussef Essa Al Dulaihan and president of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) Shahadat Hossain Taslim also spoke on the occasion.
At the outset of the ceremony, a video documentary on Hajj Management was screened.