Secretary points finger at religion minister over Tk 60 million Hajj rent fraud

Secretary to the Ministry of Religious Affairs Chowdhury Md Babul Hassan has denied having anything to do with alleged embezzlement of money from house of 5,000 pilgrims in Saudi Arabia during the Hajj.

These pilgrims were sent to Saudi Arabia at the last moment before the Hajj. Apart from them, nearly 102,000 Bangladeshi performed the Hajj this year.
 
“There was no time. Sending these 5,000 Hajj pilgrims was the priority at that time. It’s possible that some irregularities might have taken place. I’ve nothing to say about it,” Hassan told a press briefing on Sunday.
 
Minister Matior Rahaman had overseen the procedure to rent houses in Saudi Arabia, he said, adding that he ‘cannot do anything if the head of the ministry makes the decisions’.
 
Allegations have it that Tk 60 million, including Tk 12,000 from the fee each of those 5,000 pilgrims paid as house rent, has been misappropriated.
 
This year, an individual paid nearly Tk 300,000 for going to Saudi Arabia via private agencies. The cost of government packages was a bit less.

Facing questions about the embezzlement, Secretary Babul Hassan said he was not in Saudi Arabia when the houses were rented there.

Some of the aspirants staying late at Dhaka’s Ashkona Hajj Camp were among those 5,000 who were chosen to be flown for the Hajj at the last moment.

Hassan said, “The minister had left (for Saudi Arabia) first. But since I’m a government secretary and holding a permanent office, I thought I have a big responsibility. That’s why I could not go there at the time.

“I had to change the date for my departure three times. I went to Saudi Arabia at a later date.”

“We (Hassan and those who accompanied him) got visa after the houses were rented there,” he said, adding that a 10-member committee formed by Minister Rahaman had taken care of the renting procedures.

He said members of the committee included the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh’s (HAAB) elected and non-elected leaders.

He told reporters that ‘some of these members played a major role’ in renting the lodgings.

The irregularities might have taken place when they rented the houses, Hassan suggested.

“They (committee) did all the work. Specially, as far as I know, Mr Jamal discussed the renting issue with the minister more than anything else. He’s a former president (of HAAB), I think.”

Asked whether those responsible, if the misappropriation of money was proved, would face action, the secretary dodged a direct answer.

“Our minister formed the committee to rent those houses. I won’t go into discussing how much that should have cost and what happened. Because the minister supervised everything...”

Asked whether the responsibility falls on him, too, as the secretary, he agreed that he was somewhat accountable. “But we can’t say anything else if the in-charge, the minister, does anything. If the government wants, it will (take action).”

Minister Rahaman was absent at Sunday’s press conference. He was also unavailable for comment on the matter.

The work for this season’s Hajj mission would end on Oct 28, Babul Hassan said.

No steps on corpses

The secretary said 79 Bangladeshis so far were confirmed dead in the Sep 24 stampede in Mina.

As many as 129 others also died during their stay in Saudi Arabia due to different reasons including diseases and ailments, he added.

This year’s Hajj was marred by two deadly incidents which killed nearly 900 pilgrims from different countries.

Though Saudi authorities put the Mina stampede death toll at 769, Iran claims thousands had died.

At least 934 were also injured in the incident which occurred when the pilgrims were heading to Jamarat for the ‘stoning of the devil’ ritual.

On Sep 11, when pilgrims from across the world were gathering at Makkah for the Hajj, a crane crashed into the Masjid al Haram (Grand Mosque) killing 117 pilgrims, including one Bangladeshi, dead.

Reuters File Photo

All the Bangladeshi pilgrims who died in the stampede are yet to be identified.

Saudi authorities published pictures of the victims for identification after collecting the bodies.

Bangladesh Hajj Mission officials and agencies then began identifying Bangladeshis from the pictures. Many had also contacted the ministry.

Asked when the bodies would be brought back, Secretary Babul Hassan said Saudi Arabia did not send dead bodies of the Hajj pilgrims back home.

“As far as I know, no other country, except Iran, has been given that approval. Bangladesh, too, is yet to get permission.”

“I also don’t know whether any family of the deceased has pleaded with the authorities to bring back anyone’s body.”

He said the foreign ministry would be able to provide more information on that.

“Iran was allowed because they asked for it. You’ll (journalists) have to ask the foreign ministry whether our government wants to bring the bodies back,” Hassan said.