SriLanka, Feb. 7 -- On behalf of the Hajj Committee, I wish to respond to the following two articles which appeared in the Lankadeepa and subsequently in the Daily Mirror, two newspapers which I subscribe to and respect.

"437 Prospective Hajj Pilgrims allege loss of Hajj Opportunity due to Committee lapses"

This year the Saudi Ministry of Hajj & Umrah (SMOHU) significantly advanced the deadlines for payments to be made to book the campsites at Mina & Arafat and related transport arrangements by almost nine months before the start of the Hajj Pilgrimage. Since we had not yet started the interview process to select operators for Hajj 2026, we had to seek bank financing to make payments of approx. Rs.1.9Bn to reserve these campsites; failu...