Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated this years the Hajj Programme-2023 at Hajj Camp at Ashkona in the capital on Friday morning.
Opening the Hajj Programme, the Premier sought doa from the Hajj pilgrims for the people of Bangladesh. The premier later exchanged greetings with the hajj pilgrims at the Hajj camp.
The first hajj flight is scheduled to depart Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for Saudi Arabia at 2:45am on Saturday.
This year, a total of 122,221 pilgrims from Bangladesh are going to perform the holy hajj. But the number of hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh was 57,585 last year due to Covid-19 restriction.
The hajj is expected to be held on June 27, subject to the sighting of the moon.
State Minister for Religious Affairs Md. Faridul Haque Khan presided over the inaugural function.
State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Mahbub Ali, Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Yussef Essa Al Dulaihan, local lawmaker Habib Hasan (Dhaka-18), Religious Affairs Secretary Kazi Enamul Hassan and president of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) Shahadat Hossain Taslim also spoke on the occasion.
