Govt making efforts to facilitate pilgrims: Ashrafi

LAHORE,  :Special Representative to the Prime Minister on Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said on Wednesday the government was making efforts to provide optimal facilities to prospective pilgrims.

Addressing the Tazeem-e-Harmain Al-Sharifain Conference, organised by Hajj Organisers Association of Pakistan (HOAP) Punjab zone, at a hotel here, he said Saudi Arabia was dedicated to enhancing facilities for the Hajj and Umrah pilgrims.

He said that an effective system had been put in place to ensure effective monitoring of facilities to be provided to Hajj pilgrims. Under the system, Hajj pilgrims’ complaints would be resolved speedily. Ashrafi, who is also the chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council, said the relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is strong, and has no precedent in the world, adding that the two countries have long brotherly relations and both the Muslim countries have always stood with each other in difficult times.

About the recent four-day Hajj and Umrah Services Conference and exhibition, organised by the Saudi government in Jeddah, he emphasised that the event placed significant importance on enhancing overall environment for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims.

Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, while appreciating the brotherly relationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, clarified that both brotherly countries’ relationship was authentic and long-standing, consisting of many decades.

At the end of the Tazeem al-Haramaiin Sharifain Conference, organizers presented Punjabi turbans and souvenir to the ambassador and Allama Tahir Ashrafi.

Al Baraka Bank (Pakistan) Limited Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Atif Hanif, HOAP Senior Vice Chairman Sanaullah, Punjab Chairman Saeed Malik and Executive Committee Members Punjab Zone, Zeeshan Qamar Chaudhry, Imtiaz Chaudhry, Aslam Nadeem Bhutta, Shahid Rafiq and others were present.