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The Centre on Tuesday, 16 January, withdrew Haj subsidy that was provided to Indian Muslims taking the pilgrimage. The decision was in line with a 2012 Supreme Court order, in which the Union government was asked to do away with the subsidy.
There will be no subsidy for Haj from this year, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Tuesday. The move was part of the government's efforts to "empower minorities" without appeasement, he said.
Naqvi told reporters that despite the subsidy being withdrawn, a record number of 1.75 lakh Muslims would undertake the pilgrimage this year from India.
With the Centre announcing the abolition of the Haj subsidy, the Congress said it hopes the Narendra Modi government would utilise the money for the upliftment of minorities.
Congress spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the government had ended the subsidy four years before the Supreme Court order. The subsidy was not meant to appease Muslims, but it benefited the airlines which inflated the ticket prices during the pilgrimage period, he said.
Asked if the Congress welcomed the decision of abolishing the subsidy, he said, "We welcome the Supreme Court judgment, not the government."
“It was not the government's decision but of the Supreme Court bench of Justice Aftab Alam. The government is only implementing the Supreme Court decision,” Azad said.
Naqvi also said that the Saudi Arabian government has in principle agreed to allow Haj journey from India by sea and officials of the two countries would sit together to finalise the modalities.
Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), asked about the subsidies given to Hindus which should also be counted as vote bank politics.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) welcomed the Centre's decision to withdraw the Haj subsidy, and said the money saved from it should be utilised for the education of poor Hindu girls.
VHP international working president Pravin Togadia said it was the result of the collective demand of Hindus.
The government's decision on revoking Haj subsidy has no meaning as there was no such concession and Muslims were being cheated in its name, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said.
"In normal days, tickets for Saudi Arabia come for Rs 32,000, but during Haj, Air India used to charge Rs 65,000 to Rs 1 lakh from those going for Haj. The fare will be less without subsidy," he said.
All India Shia Personal Law Board Chairman Yasoob Abbas, on the other hand, said the board favoured subsidy on Haj.
(With inputs from PTI)
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