Shabbir Ali slams MIM chief over Haj subsidy comment

CHARMINAR: Congress legislator Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Friday accused Majlise-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi of toeing the Sangh Parivar line after the latter said that the Haj subsidy should be scrapped.
The leader of opposition in the Telangana legislative council demanded that the Hyderabad parliamentarian retract his statement and apologise to the Muslims of the country. At a time when Saudi Arabia has increased the Haj quota, Asad recently took to micro-blogging site Twitter to express his view on the Haj subsidy.He shared that the funds earmarked for the Haj subsidy are used to keep Air India afloat. He ur ged the government to use this fund for girls' education.Lashing out at Asad, Shabbir said that subsidy is a “boon“ for Muslims who cannot to afford the pilgrimage “He may not need the subsidy, but why deprive poor Muslims from it,“ Shabbir added. The subsidy is typically for poor Muslims who live in the Charminar constituency and not for those who stay in star hotels during the pilgrimage, he said.
The Sangh Parivar, Shabbir alleged, has been trying to scrap the Hajsubsidy for several years and claimed that Asad `walked into their trap' to attract the `non-secular' vote in states like Maharashtra and Karnataka.
“It is a shame that the MIM chief is supporting a conspiracy hatched by the Sangh Parivar against poor Muslims to deny them a facility for practising their religious beliefs as guaranteed in the Indian constitution“, Shabbir told media. “Why does the BJP hold a grudge against Haj subsidy and not similar pilgrimages? Why is the MIM chief eagerly supporting it?“ he added.