Staff Reporter :
Terming some provisions of the proposed ‘Hajj and Umrah Act’ as non-democratic, HAAB (Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh) Democratic United Front (HDUF) leaders demanded exclusion of the provisions those authorised to penalise Tk 50 lakh and confiscate properties of agencies for violation of the law.
The demand came from a press conference held at Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium on Sunday. Front leader and former HAAB President Abdus Sobhan Bhuiyan presented the keynote.
HAAB leaders Dr. Abdullah Al Naser, freedom fighter Tajul Islam, Aslam Khan, Ruhul Amin Mintoo and Abdus Salam Aref were also present the occasion.
Sobhan Bhuiyan urged the Prime Minister to interfere on the matter and exclude the provision from the new law. Otherwise, they will announce tougher protest programme as part of mass campaign against the proposed law, which was cleared in the Cabinet recently.
The front will soon organize press conference and form human chain against the law, he added.
The HAAB leader also said, “The law proposed to penalize Tk 50 lakh for Hajj agencies and Tk 15 lakh for Umrah agencies for violation of its any provision. It’s 17 time higher than hajj package. If the authority fails to realize the money penalized against the agencies, it would be deducted from their deposits against license or confiscating their properties.”
The proposed law will discourage the agencies to do business and will create scope for further syndication. They demand exclusion of the law, he added.
