New Delhi: The Indian officials responsible for organizing the Islamic pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia are demanding the abolition of VIP quota for Haj pilgrims.
With more than 200 million Indians practicing Islam, the Hindu-majority South Asian nation has the world’s largest Muslim-minority population.
Every year, at least 150,000 Indian Muslims go on Hajj, a spiritual pilgrimage and one of the five pillars of Islam.
While some of them have to wait years for their turn, 500 reserved places are set aside annually for top government officials – a practice now under review by the Haj Committee of India.
Discussions are still going on.
Vice chairperson of the committee S. “We have just taken a decision to abolish the VIP quota, but that decision has not been implemented… There is no consensus yet on this issue,” Muavari Begum told Arab News.
Both Begum and committee chairman AP Abdullakutty said that ending preferential treatment to VIP pilgrims would be in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s general approach of not providing special privileges due to high social status.
“With lakhs (millions) of people waiting for Haj pilgrimage this VIP culture is not good. this is wrong. PM Modi is in favor of ending VIP culture.
“Our new policy has been formulated after extensive discussions with all stakeholders… The new Haj policy will be announced in a few days.”
Although the quota of 500 appears small compared to the country’s annual Haj quota, the idea of privileged treatment for Muslims during the Haj was bizarre.
“When you go for Hajj, everyone is the same there. Everyone is equal there. There is uniformity. People wear the same clothes, go through the same process of pilgrimage,” Asad Rizvi, an intellectual based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, told Arab News.
“There is no concept of VIP before Allah.”
For some, even a few hundred places will contribute to making the pilgrimage more accessible to all.
Zaid Khan, a resident of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, said, “Many people aspire to go for Haj, but a limited number of spots come in their way.”
“I am sure more people will have the opportunity to go to Saudi Arabia and perform Hajj.”
Asad Shah, 81, from Delhi was surprised that there is even such a quota.
“If the government ends it, I should welcome it,” he said, but expressed hope that more would be done to help facilitate Muslim pilgrimage.
“Until a few years ago there was a government program where they used to provide Haj facilities for poor Muslims selected through a lottery system. If the government thinks about the welfare of Muslims, it should restore it.”