Special Hajj Director Says He Doesn’t Know Who Proposed Additional Quota Distribution

A number of Muslims face the Kaaba after performing Tawaf in the Grand Mosque, Makkah. (Doc. Antara)

Director of Special Hajj and Umrah Development (BHKU) of the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) Jaja Jaelani said that he did not know who proposed the division of the additional Hajj quota of 20 thousand into 10 thousand for regular pilgrims and 10 thousand for special pilgrims.

“Regarding the 50:50 division, frankly I don’t know. When we discussed, one of the things was related to the density in Mina, but finally it was decided to be 50:50,” said Jaja in the continued Public Hearing (RDPU) of the DPR RI Hajj Inquiry Committee at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Wednesday. (28/8).

He conveyed this in response to a question from a member of the Special Committee (Pansus) for the 2024 Hajj Inquiry of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) Maman Imanulhaq regarding the party proposing the division of the additional Hajj quota of 20 thousand to 50:50 or 10 thousand for regular pilgrims and 10 thousand for special pilgrims.

Next, Maman also questioned whether or not Jaja had made any efforts to explain to the leaders of the Ministry of Religion, such as the Minister of Religion (Menag), Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, regarding the distribution of the Hajj quota which violates the provisions of Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of the Hajj and Umrah Pilgrimages.

Article 64 of Law Number 8/2019 states that the Minister sets a special Hajj quota of eight percent of Indonesia’s Hajj quota.

Regarding this question, Jaja said that he was guided by Article 9 of Law Number 8/2019 which states that in the event of an additional Indonesian hajj quota, the Minister determines the hajj quota.

Also read: DPR RI Hajj Special Committee to Move Soon

“Yesterday, during the discussion regarding Article 9, the additional quota of the Minister’s authority, we concluded that,” he said.

The issue of determining the allocation of additional hajj quotas is one of the things highlighted by the Hajj Inquiry Special Committee. The Special Committee assessed that the Minister of Religion violated the provisions on the allocation of hajj quotas because he decided that the additional quota would be allocated at 10 thousand for regular hajj pilgrims and 10 thousand for special hajj pilgrims, even though Article 64 of Law 8/2019 states that the quota allocation is 92 percent for regular hajj and 8 percent for special hajj quotas.

(ANT/Z-9)