The Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah claimed Wednesday that a tour operator offered him Rs10 million bribe when he was the minister for religious affairs.
The opposition leader said this while addressing a National Assembly (NA) sitting here.
After Shah’s revelation, members of the parliament, while expressing reservations over the opposition leader’s claims, said that he should have made the issue public when he was heading the religious affairs ministry.
Sitting Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Yousaf said that Shah’s long silence on this issue was surprising, adding that no one had the guts to offer a bribe to me in order to acquire Hajj quota. He also said, “Our main aim is to facilitate the pilgrims to the maximum extent. If someone has any complaints regarding our working, then such a person should approach the Ministry of Religious Affairs for the redressal of their grievances.”
Furthermore, Yousaf said that the money deposited by Hajj pilgrims could not be accessed by the ministry before the balloting process ended, adding that the amount would remain safe in banks until relevant formalities were completed.
It merits mention here that around 2,800 Hajj tour operators were officially registered during the tenure of the last government.
Currently, the balloting for official Hajj scheme had been delayed due to petitions filed by various tour operators in courts against Hajj Policy 2018 and ratio of Hajj quota.
Sources informed a private news channel that around 3,75,000 applications have been received so far while Rs106 billion had been deposited in different banks in this connection.
