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| 13000 apply against 6616 Haj quota seats | | | Jammu, Aug 07
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is likely to face another acid test following the denial of central government to increase Haj Quota for the current year despite of the fact that the number of aspirants for the pilgrimage from Jammu and Kashmir was swelling considerably.
Sources revealed that the number of aspirants for the annual pilgrimage in the state has gone double the allotted seats and the possible denial has created lot of resentment among of Muslim across the state. Sensing the requirement of more seats, chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had reportedly directed Haj Minister Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed to approach Central Haj Committee for the increase in the quota.
“The Committee has turned down the request of the state government citing the reason of non-availability of the seats”, sources in the government told News Agency of Kashmir, here today.
The task seems to be more important for the Congress Chief Minster as his predecessor Mufti Muhammad Sayeed had managed to increase the number of seats by using his contacts in New Delhi, they added.
It was reliably learnt that Central Haj Committee has sanctioned quota of 6617 seats for this year’s Haj pilgrimage, out of which 976 seats have been allotted to Jammu province. “At least 13000 applications of the aspirants have been received so far which has made our task more difficult”, an official in the State Haj Committee told News Agency of Kashmir, adding, “It is very difficult for the screening committee to fix the criteria of denial and permission”. Last year more than 9000 people were allowed to proceed for Haj following the efforts of the then chief minister who had reportedly made personnel request to Saudi authorities, he added.
In Jammu alone 1290 aspirants have applied for the permission, while the available seats are only 976.
The less number of seats has further aggravated the situation as Muslims from Jammu region now blame Congress led government for discrimination with them. “We have population of 13,59 lakh in Jammu region, while the State Haj Committee has only provided quota of less than a thousands sets for the region”, said Shaq Muhammad Malik, president Jammu Division Haj Aspirants Forum, who led a protest outside the office of Divisional Commissioner Jammu, here today.
“It is dream of every Muslim to perform the pilgrimage once in his life and the state government should respect the sentiments of people”, he added.
On the other hand Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Basharat Ahmed Dar, who is also Convener State Haj Committee, claimed that the set allotment to each district of the state is done as per the prescribed norms of the Central Haj Committee. “The districts are allotted seats as per the quota available and the population”, he said adding, “We would also like that more people go for the pilgrimage but we are helpless in this regard”.
Haj Minister Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed, when contacted, told News Agency of Kashmir that he had requested Central Haj Committee for the increase in quota who had assured that the matter would be taken up with Saudi government. “We are hopeful that something would be done shortly”, he added.
On the other hand, sources claimed that the Saudi authorities have clearly turned down the request of any increase as some construction work was reportedly going on in the premises meant for the lodging of the pilgrims. “Last year the number of pilgrims from other countries had gone down as such they had allowed us to sent more number but this year it would not be easy”, sources added. |
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