Increase state Haj quota, demand Muslims

MUMBAI: Nearly 50,000 applicants for the Haj pilgrimage from Maharashtra have been left in the lurch. Several hundred are also those who applied four times, but have not made it to the list of selected pilgrims due to quota restrictions. Community leaders and State Haj Committee have demanded an increase in the quota for Haj pilgrims from India as thousands, despite fulfilling the criteria to go for Haj, are being held back.This year, Haj will be performed in September.
India’s quota of Haj pilgrims is 1 lakh, but more than four lakh applications have been received. Maharashtra’s quota is around 7,000, whereas nearly 55,000 applicants are in the queue. “Increase in the Haj quota for India is urgently needed. The Saudi authorities need to be told about the Muslim population according to the latest census. It is disheartening for several thousand senior Haj applicants who are being denied the opportunity,” said Congress legislator Amin Patel.
The Saudi government sanctions one pilgrim seat against 10 Muslims from the entire community’s population in a country. Since 2013, the Saudi authorities have imposed a 20% cut in the Haj quota for all the nations due to ongoing expansion of the holy mosque in Mecca. “We have written several letters to the ministry of external affairs to demand increase in our quota from the Saudi government,” said Ibrahim Bhaijan, president, Maharashtra State Haj Committee.
“There was a surplus of 8,687 seats collectively from Assam, Bihar, WB and Tripura. These seats were distributed among Gujarat, Kerala and Uttarakhand,” said Haj Committee of India’s CEO Ataur Rahman.