PM calls for upholding dignity of Islam

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday inaugurated the Hajj Programme-2022 (1443 Hijri) urging everyone to uphold the dignity of Islam, the religion of peace. 

"Islam is a very peaceful and holy religion, which is the best religion. So, it is the duty for all of us to maintain its dignity ," she said.  

The premier opened the programme at the Hajj camp in the capital's Ashkona  through a virtual platform from her official residence Ganobhaban.

She also called upon the hajj pilgrims to pray for Bangladesh so that the country and its people can remain protected from the natural disasters and pandemics like Covid-19 as well as get decent lives.

"Bangladesh is making economic progress today. So, pray so that we can move ahead in the development journey and every person of the country can get scope for their foods, clothes, shelter, medicare and education, and thus get an improved and decent life," she said.  

Hasina also asked the pilgrims to abide by the rules and laws of Saudi Arabia while performing their hajj rituals there. "It is the duty for all of us to uphold the country's dignity. Keep it in mind," she added.

The first hajj flight, carrying 419 pilgrims, from Bangladesh is scheduled to depart for Saudi Arabia on Sunday next. As the Coronavirus situation is a little better, this year the Holy Hajj is going to be held (on July 08 depending on the moon sight) with one million pilgrims from all over the world. Of them, 57,585 hajj pilgrims are from Bangladesh.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 127,198 pilgrims from Bangladesh performed hajj in 2019.

She exchanged pleasantries with the pilgrims and requested them to offer prayers for the people of Bangladesh and her family members who were brutally killed in 1975.

State Minister for Religious Affairs Md. Faridul Haque Khan presided over the inaugural function.

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Mahbub Ali, Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Yussef Essa Al Dulaihan, Religious Affairs Secretary Kazi Enamul Hassan and president of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) Shahadat Hossain Taslim also spoke on the occasion.