Not enamoured of the ship service from Mumbai to Jeddah for the Haj offered by the India-Saudi Arabia Annual Haj agreement, the State Haj Committee has said that the revised norms will not be of much use for Kerala pilgrims.
“The pilgrims from Kerala do not like the idea of going all the way to Mumbai to board a ship to Saudi Arabia even if the cost comes down by ₹40,000. Our pilgrims favour direct flights though the airfare now is ₹76,000,” Thodiyoor Muhammed Kunju Moulavi, chairman, Haj Committee, told The Hindu on Wednesday.
A bilateral annual Haj 2018 agreement was signed between Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Umrah Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten at Makkah this week. Saudi Arabia has also increased India's Haj quota by 5,000, taking the number of pilgrims who can perform Haj from the country to 1,75,025.
The practice of ferrying Haj pilgrims between Mumbai and Jeddah by sea was stopped from 1995. “May be some pilgrims will take an advantage of the new route since modern vessels can cover the distance within 3 to 4 days. Old ships used to take 15 days to reach the destination,” the Moulavi said.
He said the Centre had not so far taken a decision on retaining the existing policy of allowing those who had crossed 70 years of age and fifth-time applicants to get selected for the Haj pilgrimage without draw of lots. The total number of applications from the State was 65,000, of which 13, 000 are consecutively applying for the fifth time.
"Quota just 6,000, hope to send 15,000"
“Our quota is just 6,000. We hope to sent 15,000 pilgrims this year. The committee is meeting in Kozhikode on January 15 to take decisions on the Haj camp and other aspects,” the Mouvali said.
Strong opposition from various State Haj Committees, he said that, apart from moving the Supreme Court, forced the Haj Committee of India to go volte-face on the distribution of quota between the committee and private tour operators in the ratio 75: 25 and retain the 21 existing Haj embarkation points in the country.
The Moulavi said the Centre had been urged to restore Haj embarkation from Kozhikode instead of Kochi. “The Kochi airport did not have adequate facilities. Two hangers housed the prayer room and the Haj camp last year. Now these hangers have been leased out to airline companies. We have already moved the Kerala High Court seeking to shift the Haj embarkation point to Kozhikode,” he said.
