Haj 2020 likely to be cancelled, 4,700 applied from Assam

With the coronavirus pandemic showing no signs of abating, the chance of Haj journey for 2020 is very little. Pilgrims, who wish to cancel their Haj journey for 2020, will be given a 100 per cent refund, Haj Committee of India said on June 6^th, 2020. Even those who do not apply for cancellation will get full refund, the committee informed.

However, the committee said the government will take a final decision on the matter only after Saudi Arabia makes its position on hosting the pilgrimage clear.

A circular issued by the Haj Committee on June 5^th, 2020, said only a few weeks are left for the preparatory work in India for Haj 2020, yet the Saudi authorities have not communicated any further development regarding the pilgrimage.

Also read: Assam Detects 92 COVID-19 Cases Together, Total Nears 2600

Around 4,700 people had applied for the Haj 2020 from Assam. Nekibur Zaman, chairman of the Assam Haj Committee, told Inside NE, that the central committee has not declared anything about the cancellation of the journey yet. “But, it can easily be understood that Haj cannot take place amid this pandemic.”

It may be mentioned that India has become the fifth worst coronavirus-hit nation in the world as it surpassed Spain on June 6^th, 2020. The COVID-19 has infected 2,46,628 as on June 7^th, 2020 and claimed 6929 lives so far. There are 1.2 lakh active cases, while 1.19 lakh have recovered.

The European country, a COVID-19 epicentre weeks ago, has over 2.4 lakh cases. Now, only the US, Brazil, Russia and the UK have more cases than India.

On June 7^th, 2020 morning, the Health Ministry data said India reported 9,971 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours in the biggest one-day spike so far. The country on June 5^th, 2020, took over Italy, one of the biggest sufferers of the disease, in terms of total cases.

The online applications for Haj 2020 were accepted from October 10^th, 2019 to November 10^th, 2019. The Haj Committee of India is a statutory body under an Act of Parliament and functions as part of the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs.

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