BHOPAL: Hopes of more than 5000 Hajj aspirants from Madhya Pradesh were washed away after Hajj Committee of India announced formally, on Tuesday, that Hajj 2021 has been cancelled.
The order came after the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia issued a statement informing that due to corona pandemic conditions, it has decided to allow citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia only to attend the Hajj in limited numbers. International Hajj has been cancelled.
This is for the second time in a row that Hajj has been cancelled due to the corona. Approximate 5200 people from Madhya Pradesh go to Hajj every year.
The pandemic had already sent the Hajj aspirants on caution and numbers of applications dropped drastically compared to pre-Covid times. More than 25,000 people used to apply for Hajj pilgrimage before the pandemic. This number came down to 2893 only this year.
The number of applications in the year 2019-20 from across the state stood at 4800 whereas in 2018-19 there were 5200 applications for Hajj pilgrimage.
