Hajj Committee Ladakh organised an orientation/training program for provisionally selected Hajj pilgrims of Kargil district for the year 2023 at Auditorium Hall, Kargil on May 15.

During the training program, MP Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal addressed the pilgrims virtually and congratulated them. He   also applauded the Hajj Committee Ladakh for their efforts.

It was informed that a total of 475 applications were filed from Ladakh for Hajj Pilgrimage 2023. In a historic achievement, 456 applications were approved by the Ministry of Minority Affairs which is the Nodal Ministry to conduct Hajj pilgrimage in India. Pertinently, the remaining applicants had withdrawn their applications due to various reasons.

Chairman, Hajj Committee, UT Ladakh, Mohd Ali Majaz congratulated the Hajj pilgrims for the opportunity to perform Hajj. He expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi for the formation Hajj Committee in Ladakh as per the wishes and aspirations of Muslim brethren of the region.

The chairman also briefed about the efforts and achievements of the Hajj Committee Ladakh for facilitating the entire Hajj pilgrimage process along with organizing a special Passport Seva camp in Kargil to ease the passport services and also the orientation program.

He added that the Government of India’s approval for all the 456 Hajj applicants from Ladakh is a remarkable achievement for the newly formed Hajj Committee and assured that the Committee would strive harder for serving the Muslim communities of the region.

Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kargil, Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Wani also addressed the gathering and congratulated the Hajj pilgrims for this great achievement and informed them about various procedures and protocols during the travel and Hajj.

Chairman IKMT, Sheikh Sadiq Rajaae, President Anjuman Sofia Noorbakshia Kargil, Syed Mohammad Shah, Member Hajj Committee Ladakh, Zaheer Babar, Hajj Pilgrim Ghulam Nabi Zia also addressed the gathering and shared their thoughts on the occasion.

The resource persons for the orientation/training program were Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohd Ali. They briefed the Hajj pilgrims on several topics like vaccination, Covid-19 protocol, required medical documents, accommodation, touring, transportation and communication facilities, foreign currency exchange along with disaster management measures.

The training program also focused in detail on various religious rituals to be observed while undertaking the pilgrimage at different and important religious sites.

Ulemas and religious heads of different sects, presidents of religious organizations, Councilor Shargole Mohammad Ali Chandan along with provisionally selected Hajj pilgrims from different parts of Kargil were present during the orientation program. Habib Ullah conducted program proceedings.