Official announcement expected this month, passport readiness key
Mubashir Alam Wani
Srinagar, Jun 21 : The Jammu and Kashmir Haj Committee has issued a notification, outlining essential pre-announcement guidelines for pilgrims intending to perform Haj in 2026 (1447 H) through the Haj Committee.
According to a notification, a copy of which also lies with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the official announcement regarding Haj 2026 is expected to be made public this month.
The Haj Committee has advised all aspiring pilgrims to keep their passports ready and ensure they meet specific criteria, with guidelines stating that the passports must be machine-readable, valid at least up to 31st December 2026, bear the endorsement of the seal and signature of the issuing authority or RPO and must not be damaged (i.e., no torn pages, detached covers, or other physical damage).
Furthermore, as per the notification, applicants applying for fresh passports have been advised to ensure that the Surname/Last Name field is filled and not left blank.
Notably, according to the Jammu & Kashmir Hajj Committee, over 3,600 pilgrims from J&K performed Hajj this year under the government quota.
Witnessing a rapid decline from 35,000 in 2017 to as low as over 4,100 applications this year, the number of Haj pilgrims continues to be dwindling in Jammu and Kashmir.
The numbers as per the officials further reduced when over 700 pilgrims who applied for the pilgrimage opted to remain ‘out’ of Hajj 2025.
As per the official details available with KNO, a total of 4,100 people from Jammu and Kashmir applied for Haj 2025, out of which 3,601 were confirmed in the first list, with 21 more added under the Mahram quota, taking the total number of pilgrims proceeding for Haj to 3,622.
Despite multiple extensions for submitting Hajj 2025 forms, Jammu and Kashmir’s Hajj Committee just received 4,100 applications, a decrease of more than 48% from the previous year.
According to the official data, 2024 received 8,147 Hajj application forms against the allocated quota of 8,200.
However, as per the officials, 2023 has also recorded the highest ever pilgrimage, with over 12,000 pilgrims embarking on the holy journey from Jammu and Kashmir—(KNO)
