ISLAMABAD: Amid growing resentment over the federal government’s ban on road travel for pilgrims to Iran and Iraq, government officials initiated contacts with the leadership of the Shia Ulema Council (SUC) on Tuesday to address the issue.

Minister for Housing Riaz Hussain Pirzada reached out to Allama Dr Shabbir Hassan Maisami, while Punjab Governor Salim Haider talked to Allama Arif Hussain Wahidi, secretary general of the council, by phone.

The engagements reportedly focused on the difficulties pilgrims were facing due to the government’s decision to bar them from travelling to Iran and Iraq by road.

The SUC leaders said a significant number of pilgrims travel by road through Balochistan every year to visit holy sites in the two countries.

They told the government functionaries that the ban had triggered widespread concern and unrest among the pilgrims who had planned to visit Karbala for Arbaeen, the annual observance of the Chehlum of Imam Husain.

Sources within the SUC confirmed that government representatives had assured them of further consultations and of exploring viable options to resolve the matter.

Earlier, the SUC had publicly rejected the government’s move, calling it a violation of the pilgrims’ fundamental rights.

MWM slams decision

Senator Allama Nasir Abbas, a leader of the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslim­een, criticised the federal government’s decision to impose travel restrictions on pilgrims.

Senator Abbas made it clear that every year “almost a million people belonging to both Shia and Sunni schools of thought travel to Iraq for pilgrimage during this sacred occasion, but now they are being denied the right to perform their religious duties.”

He recalled that Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had recently visited Iran, where he held talks with his Iranian and Iraqi counterparts about facilitating travel for Pakistani pilgrims. “But without any consultation or prior notice, the government abruptly declared that no one will be allowed to travel by road,” he added.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2025