PM Tarique sends gift to Hajj pilgrims as first flight to depart Friday night

The gifts include bottled water, backpacks, Hajj kits, soap, water pots, petroleum jelly, wooden tooth brushes and dates

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has sent gifts for Hajj pilgrims as a welcome gesture before the start of the annual pilgrimage for Muslim devotees.

In a media statement hours before this year’s maiden flight on Friday, the Ministry of Religious Affairs said the gifts reached the Dhaka Haj Office.

Md Lokman Hossain, director of the office, said: “The premier has sent several types of gifts for the guests of Allah.”

The gifts include 100,000 bottles of mineral water alongside backpacks, Ihram (Hajj kits), soaps, water pots, petroleum jelly, Miswak (wooden tooth brushes) and dates.

These gifts have been packaged and will be handed over to the pilgrims of the inaugural flight, said Lokman.

The prime minister will officially inaugurate the flights at 11:35pm at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport.

The flight, carrying 419 pilgrims, will set off for King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah at 12:20am on Saturday.

Fourteen flights are scheduled in the opening slot. Of them, six flights will be operated by Biman Bangladesh Airlines and four each by the Saudi-based Saudia Airlines, and Flynas Airlines.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism said overall preparations for Hajj management are already complete.

According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, nearly 78,500 people from Bangladesh will perform Hajj.

Of them, 4,565 pilgrims will travel on government packages and the rest under private management.

There will be 207 pre-Hajj flights, including 102 by the national flag carrier, which will end on May 21.

The Hajj is likely to be held on May 26, subject to the sighting of the moon. After the Hajj formalities, the return flights will start on May 30 and end on Jul 1.