By Faisal Fareed, Twocircles.net
Call it an election gimmick or an agenda of the Central government, but the announcement to set up a panel for examination of Hajj subsidy is unlikely to spark a massive debate among the Muslim community even during the current election campaigns.
By and large, Muslim leaders including clerics have opposed the idea of Hajj subsidy. For many, it is in fact, a process of fleecing Hajj devotees in the name of subsidy. There has been little resentment within the community over a possible end to the Hajj subsidy and the idea that Hajj Subsidy helps Muslims to perform their pilgrimage has few takers if any. The subsidy, which originated during the British era, has continued ever since, making India the only country in the World to offer Hajj subsidy.
Hyderabad MP and President of All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen Asaduddin Owaisi has, in fact, said it time and again that the Hajj subsidy should be scrapped. He believes that the amount can be spent better; say, on educating Muslim girls. “For past 11 years, I have been demanding that the Hajj subsidy be scrapped. It is not helping the Muslims, we do not require it. It is a means to bail out the airlines at the cost of a subsidy,” Owaisi said.
Similarly, Mahmood Madani, in 2006, had supported the idea of abolishing the Hajj subsidy. Speaking to the Indian Express, he had said, “It is against the Shariat to be under any kind of obligation while undertaking Hajj. According to the Quran, only those Muslims who can afford the expenses should perform Hajj. It’s recommended only for adult, financially able and sane Muslims.”
In 2012, the Supreme Court directed the UPA government to end the Hajj subsidy over the next 10 years. India’s Apex court believed, similar to the claims of Owaisi, that that the money could instead be spent on education and other social development schemes for the Muslim community. Justice Aftab Alam and Justice Ranjana P Desai suggested that Indian Muslims would also support the abolishment of the subsidy on the grounds that the Hajj pilgrimage is only mandatory for those who can afford expenses. Also, as has often been claimed by a number of people, the subsidy is more for the airlines-Air India-than the pilgrims.
According to media reports, last year over Rs 500 crore was paid by the government, mostly in form of airfare. Let us break down as to what the Hajj Subsidy comprises of, and see why the ‘subsidy’ is not advantageous to the pilgrims. It is important to point out that the majority of subsidy is used for air fares.
Cost: Hajj 2016 as from Lucknow
Green category– Rs 2,18,400, which includes the following:
Stay in Mecca—Rs 81,000
Stay in Medina—Rs 9,000
Air Ticket—Rs 45,000
Other expenses– Rs 76,320
Azizia Category—Rs 1,84,500, including the following:–
Stay in Mecca—Rs 47,340
Stay in Medina—Rs 9,000
Air ticket—Rs 45,000
Other expenses—Rs 76,320
In 2016, an amount of Rs 7,000 from green category and Rs 6,800 from Azizia category were taken extra from devotees.
A break-up of the subsidy
Mostly in form of air tickets. The round trip costs around Rs 70,340 from Lucknow of which the pilgrim pays Rs 45,000 while rest is paid as subsidy. The air tickets are provided by the central government through the respective Hajj Committees.
But more interestingly, the price quoted by Air India for people from Varanasi was Rs 85,776, which is nearly double than that from Lucknow. So in effect, the government claimed to be subsidising over Rs 40,000 for pilgrims boarding from Varanasi. Similarly, an amount of Rs 53, 889 was quoted for pilgrims boarding from Delhi.
But are the prices to Jeddah so high as claimed by the government? Not really, given that even from Delhi, a pilgrim has to pay Rs 45,000 per ticket.
If you were to book a ticket even in an emergency, two-day window and the return trip two weeks later, most quotations start around Rs 32,000. Given that most visits to Hajj are planned well in advance, if the tickets are booked with a two-month window, the round trip will start at Rs 25,000 from Delhi. In effect, there will be no need for Hajj Subsidy, if it were not for the ridiculously high prices quoted by Air India.
Owaisi claimed that there should be global tender for air ticket. “Believe me,” he said, “World’s best airlines will come to your doors at cheaper rates. But we are forced to take tickets only from Air India or Saudi Airlines. There is a big scam in this as last year even Turkish Airlines plane flew pilgrims which mean that these airlines have further sublet the ticketing. Now there must be something fishy in it,” he said.