FAISALABAD: On Sunday, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan bid farewell to the pilgrims at the airport and gave them advice on how to behave in a way that would project a positive image of Pakistan to the Muslims who would be gathering there for the pilgrimage.
At 9:10 a.m., the inaugural PIA Hajj Flight No. PK-1341 from Faisalabad to Saudi Arabia via Karachi took off and was scheduled to land in Madina Munawarah with 155 intending pilgrims. The minister claimed that the Saudi interior minister recently paid a visit to Pakistan and informed the relevant authorities that his country had made the best preparations for the auspicious occasion. He continued by saying that Pakistan’s government had also made improvements to the Hajj arrangements.
He said, “The Road to Makkah project has been launched this year from Peshawar and Islamabad to provide immigration facility in Pakistan instead of their immigration on their arrival in Jeddah and other Saudi Arab airports”.
“Initially this facility was offered to 2,600 intending pilgrims, but on my request, the number was increased to 40,000. The next year, this project would be initiated from Karachi and other important cities of Punjab including Lahore and Faisalabad,” the minister added.
The Pakistan International Airlines would airlift approximately 3,500 passengers from Faisalabad Airport through 22 Hajj flights till June 16, 2023.
The interior minister also garlanded the intending pilgrims.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Faisalabad Ali Anan Qamar, Deputy Director Hajj Arif Zahoor Hussain, General Manager (GM) PIA Shafiq, Deputy Manager (DM) PIA Shahid Hussain, Airport Manager Anwar Zia Gujjar and others were also present.
Meanwhile, After Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan questioned powers of commission investigating audio leaks pertaining to judiciary, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah confirmed the judicial body will have authority to investigate those involved in taping and leaking the calls.
A day earlier, Khan had pointed towards a “deliberate omission” in the commission’s Terms of Reference seeking accountability of those behind the surveillance.
“The commission, headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, will possess the power to probe into who is taping the audios and who is leaking them,” the minister said.
The interior czar spoke about Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government’s decision to constitute a three-member commission to conduct an investigation into the audio leaks pertaining to the judiciary.
