COMPARED to previous years, the government has collected money from the public on account of Haj 2018 a bit too early and announced balloting for intending pilgrims on Jan 28, which was postponed after a Sindh High Court order stopped balloting.

After the passage of nearly three weeks, there is no announcement of a new balloting date nor has the concerned ministry taken any further action in the matter. Thus the government has still retained billions of rupees of hundreds of thousands of applicants. The previous practice was that after balloting the unsuccessful applicants’ money was returned.

I request the Chief Justice of Pakistan to ensure early balloting and return of unsuccessful applicants’ money.

Yahqub Lodhi

Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2018