NEW DELHI, June 23: The Government has decided that Muslims from India will not travel to Saudi Arabia for Haj 2020 after the kingdom conveyed that pilgrims should not be sent this year in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said today.
The decision was taken after Saudi Arabia’s Haj and Umrah Minister Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten telephoned last night and suggested not to send pilgrims from India for Haj this year, he told reporters.
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Saudi Arabia yesterday had said it has barred international visitors from making the Islamic pilgrimage, in a bid to control the Coronavirus pandemic.
Naqvi said 2,13,000 applications had been received for Haj 2020 and the process to refund the full amount of money deposited by the applicants without any deduction has been started immediately.
The money will be refunded through online Direct Benefit Transfer mode into bank accounts of applicants, the Minority Affairs Minister said, adding this will be the first time since Independence that pilgrims from India will not be going for Haj due to the unprecedented situation posed by the pandemic.(PTI)
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