PESHAWAR: Some officials in the ministry of religious affairs have been accused of violating the Haj quota policy, and urged Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar to ensure implementation of the apex court decision on the matter in letter and spirit.

Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday, Haj Group Organisers Pakistan (non-quota holders) chairman Sahibzada Maulana Ashraf Ali urged the government to materialise its claim about curbing corruption and ensuring transparency in implementing the Haj Policy 2019.

He alleged that some officials of the religious ministry were in the habit of creating problems in distribution of Haj quota every year which was not acceptable to the organisers any longer.

He warned that if the organisers’ demands were not met, they would besiege the ministry’s building and stage a protest outside the Banigala residence of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He alleged that a specific lobby was influencing the officials for allotment of the quota, which was clear violation of a Supreme Court’s decision in that regard.

He said a three-member bench of the apex court had given verdict in their favour, so he appealed to the CJP to take suo motu notice and ensure allotment of Haj quota to them.

Ashraf Ali said the Haji group organisers had been registered with SECP from 2005 to 2012, and with religious affairs ministry from 2012.

He regretted that the Haj group organisers had deliberately been kept deprived of quota on various pretexts for last six years.

Flanked by other members of the group, including its patron-in-chief Shah Jahan Khalil, Mr Ali alleged that the old Haj organisers had become a ‘mafia’, supported by some officials of the ministry who were getting quota on a regular basis.

He said the ministry was continuously allotting quota to the old Haj organisers despite expiry of their contract.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2018