Hajj 2021 Cancelled: Muslim Pilgrimage Called Off For Second Straight Year Due To Covid Pandemic

In an official notice issued on Tuesday, the Hajj Committee under the Ministry of Minority Affairs stated that all the applications for Hajj-2021 stands cancelled. 

New Delhi: In the wake of Coronavirus pandemic across the world, the Hajj Committee of India has decided that no Muslim from India will travel to Saudi Arabia to take part in the Islamic practice of performing Hajj. 

In an official notice issued on Tuesday, the Hajj Committee under the Ministry of Minority Affairs stated that all the applications for Hajj-2021 stands cancelled. 

"The Ministry of Haj and Umrah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia issued a statement informing that due to Corona pandemic conditions 'the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has decided to allow citizens and residents inside the Kingdom of Sausi Arabia only to attend Haj 1442 in limited numbers. International Haj has been cancelled." 

Earlier this month, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) had announced that  it will restrict the annual Hajj pilgrimage to a relatively smaller gathering of 60,000. Citing the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Saudi Arabia said that its own citizens, that too, those aged between 18 and 65 who have been fully vaccinated or immunised from virus and are free from chronic diseases will be allowed for performing Hajj. 

Last year as well, the Saudi Arabian authorities have drastically cut down the number of pilgrims arriving for Hajj in a bid to control the further spread of Coronavirus infection. 

The Hajj pilgrimage, which is scheduled for late July every year, is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, with more than two million devotees visiting the Kingdom to perform Islamic rituals every year.