| "If they don't have a religion column they're useless! Useless! Burn them!" |
The Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs asked the government on Monday to withdraw all passports issued without the religion column and replace them with fresh ones that include the column. The committee also asked the government to abolish the balloting system for people wanting to perform Haj and adopt a "first come first serve" policy and form a committee to supervise arrangements for Haj so that problems faced by Pakistani pilgrims could be resolved immediately instead of departmental inquiries later.The standing committee, which met at Parliament House and was chaired by Senator Maulana Samiul Haq, praised the government's decision to reinsert the religion column in the new passports since it was "what the majority of Pakistanis wanted". The standing committee members also felt that many people had slammed the balloting system for Haj visas and had accused the Religious Affairs Ministry of favouritism, which was why it asked the government to adopt a "first come first serve" system.