A company that collects and facilitates applications from potential Haj pilgrims residing in Western countries has at least one investor who has close ties with the Government of India, middle east eye reports,
Saudi Arabian authorities announced last week that Hajj pilgrims from Australia, Europe and the United States would be required to apply for visas through the government portal Motawif, a move aimed at cracking down on “fake” travel agencies .
Saudi officials have issued few statements about why the decision is being implemented so close to this year’s Hajj, but a I The investigation reveals that a man involved in helping facilitate a multi-million dollar investment in Traveleezi, a Dubai-based company that has been specifically contracted to process Western applications through Motavif – is related to the Indian Prime Minister. Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party. (BJP).
Prashant Prakash, vice president and partner at venture capital firm Accel India, has served on India’s National Startup Advisory Council since 2020, and became policy and strategy advisor to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the BJP-run government in Karnataka in 2021. And a major Modi ally.
According to Accel, it was Prakash who led the venture capital firm to partner with two other operations when they collectively invested $7 million in Traveleezy in 2016, as the Indian-owned company expanded its HolidayMe subsidiary. Started construction, and later in 2018, Umrahme, a company run by Mohammed bin Mahfouz.
According to Forbes, UmrahMe is now “one of only three companies authorized by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to sell Umrah products to global travel agents”.
Accel is a longtime investor in Israeli start-ups, reportedly investing more than $350m in the country between 2002 and 2016.
Several Indian activists said the revelations were concerning. Nabia Khan, a resident of New Delhi told I Saudi Arabia’s decision to outsource the application process to a company with a BJP-linked investor was “outrageous and dangerous”.
“Personal data of Muslims applying through the portal can easily fall into the wrong hands,” Khan said.
“It is unfortunate that Muslim nations are handing over such sensitive information and money to people whose money will lead to persecution of Muslims in India,” Khan said.
Syed Abdahu Kashaf, a social and civil rights activist from Hyderabad told I That the allegations meant that Saudi Arabia had effectively invited “those who have no right to attend a very holy place for Muslims”.
Neither Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah nor the Saudi consulate in New York City responded to requests for comment, according to I,
Published in Dawn, June 18, 2022