Hajj registration deadline extended fourth time till 6 Feb

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has once again extended the Hajj registration deadline until 6 February as the quota for Bangladeshi pilgrims remained unfulfilled.

Abu Bakar Siddique, the public relations officer of the ministry, confirmed this to the media on Friday.

It is the fourth time extension for the Hajj registration after it started on 16 September last year.

The ministry has asked the aspirant pilgrims to complete their registration by this latest deadline and said there would be no time extension after the new deadline expires.

"The registration period for performing Hajj through both public and private means has been extended till 6 February for the last time on special consideration," Abu Bakar said.

Earlier on Thursday, the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAB) sent a letter to the religious affairs minister, requesting him to extend the registration period.

The Hajj enrollment time was first extended up to 31 December. Later, the date was changed two times to 18 January and 1 February.

The registration time has been changed again after the government did not get the expected response from the Hajj goers. 

According to the Religious Affairs Ministry, There is a quota of 1,27,198 pilgrims from Bangladesh this year.

So far, some 79,862 people have been registered till 1 February. Among them, 4,165 people confirmed registration under government management and 75,697 people got enrolled under private arrangement.

So, fulfilling the quota requires 47,336 more people to be registered for performing Hajj this year.