Following disputes, CHC sent only 1,025 pilgrims of the 1,059 applicants. “Saudi Arabia embassy has urged CHC to send all the 1,025 pilgrims for Hajj. “Others were not selected as they either fell sick or applied for the pilgrimage after the expiry of the deadline,” said Sannaulah Nadvi, the Imam at Nepali Jame Mosque, Kathmandu. [break]
Earlier, CHC had courted controversy after it decided to send only 800 Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year. CHC maintained that Saudi Arabia asked them to send only 800 pilgrims. But Republica ran a story earlier this month after acquiring a letter that revealed that the original quota fixed for Nepal was 1,200.
“The quota fixed for Nepal is 1,200. Due to some domestic problems, however, the quota we have fixed for Nepal for the year 2013 is 1, 000,” read the letter issued by Saudi government to CHC. The committee´s decision to reduce the number was widely criticized. Elated after the latest developments, all the selected applicants are preparing for the pilgrimage.
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