LAHORE, Jan 7: Delay in the issuance of visa-stamped passports a night before the scheduled departure to Jeddah panicked a number of intending pilgrims at the local Haji camp on Tuesday.

The pilgrims were told at the PIA counter in the afternoon that the order of dispatching their passports had been disturbed by the Saudi embassy in Islamabad. “We are also waiting for your passports to issue you tickets,” airline staff told the pilgrims.

The Ministry of Haj reportedly gave some 35,000 passports to the Saudi embassy according to the flight schedule. However, a majority of the passports returned to the Lahore Haj Directorate on Tuesday were of those who were scheduled to fly for Saudi Arabia by the end of this month.

The situation panicked the pilgrims who were seen contacting highups in the Haj Directorate as well as newspaper offices to seek help.

There were a number of couples who complained that the passports of one of their spouses had not been received.

Ali Anwar, a worried pilgrim, told Dawn that he and his group members had been advised to contact the directorate late in the night on Tuesday to confirm whether their passports had been received from Islamabad.

Another disturbed pilgrim criticized the Ministry of Haj and Religious Affairs for not completing formalities in time.

Some other pilgrims complained that the ministry had informed them about the schedule of their flights too late. Others also blamed the ministry for not providing booklets for guidance.

When contacted, Lahore Haj Directorate Director Muhammad Frogh admitted that some pilgrims were facing problems as their visa-stamped passports could not reach Lahore in time.

The Saudi embassy, according to him, should have returned the passports in the same order, as submitted by the ministry.

Unfortunately, he said, the passports of a number of pilgrims scheduled to leave for Jeddah by different flights were jumbled up. “We have received passports of those pilgrims whose flights are scheduled to leave a few days later but the passports of those scheduled to fly on Wednesday (today) are yet to be received,” he said.

Answering a question, Mr Frogh claimed that passports of only 12 pilgrims, scheduled to take flight on Wednesday, had not been received.

Contacted again at 11.30pm on Tuesday, Mr Frogh said the Lahore directorate had received another lot of 1,600 passports which was being sifted through to find the missing visas.

Nevertheless, he said, those who could not board their scheduled flight on Wednesday would be accommodated in the next plane.