Free hajj for govt officials!
Amidst the chaos surrounding hajj this year, the government has decided to spend a whopping Tk 10.15 crore, not to ease the plight of pilgrims who are in limbo due to visa complications, but to send 318 "pious Muslims" that include government officials and lawmakers who are financially solvent!
It has been reported that priority was given to those from Mymensingh, Gopalganj, Kishoreganj and Faridpur. Going by this logic, one would have to believe that the most "pious Muslims" among us hail from these places and the selected pilgrims simply do not have the financial means to perform hajj.
But that is not the case. These people are financially solvent and were prioritised over other less privileged pilgrims for "free hajj." We earnestly ask the religious affairs ministry, what were the selection criteria?
This group of very fortunate pilgrims includes, unsurprisingly, the relatives, staffers and close aides—nominated from the Mymensingh-4 constituency—of the religious affairs minister along with other high-level officials of the ruling party. The ministry had previously sent a 171-member delegation to Saudi Arabia to help a Bangladeshi medical team, 163 of whom have no background in medicine. Instead of sending a proper delegation comprising of doctors, nurses and other professionals, the religious affairs ministry came to the conclusion that gunmen and personal assistants would somehow be of more use in looking after the health of our hajjis.
This is nothing but a shoddy display of nepotism. Such actions on the part of the government are a blatant disregard for public suffering and public money. If taxpayers' money should be allocated for "free hajj" at all, should the ministry not rise above narrow partisanship and be more egalitarian in selecting the candidates?
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