The government’s move to phase out subsidies for the annual Haj pilgrimage is a step in the right direction. However, it is unfair on the part of the government to dub it as the end of ‘minority appeasement’. The government has been merely complying with the Supreme Court order of 2012, which had directed that the subsidy on air travel be phased out within 10 years. Given this development, the government should also ‘phase out’ funds for pilgrimage to religious sites patronised by the majority community. An example in the past was the Union Culture Ministry allocating about ₹100 crore to Madhya Pradesh for the Mahakumbh. The Centre has to walk the talk when it comes to empowering the minorities and not indulge in a politics of doublespeak. In this, the best way is to implement the recommendations made by Justice Rajinder Sachar and Justice Ranganath Mishra, respectively.
Mohammed Tahsin,
Bengaluru
The truth is that Muslims have never asked for any sort of subsidy for their annual pilgrimage nor has any Muslim leader ever raised such a demand. Haj is a sort of worship mandatory for only those Muslims who can afford it, financially and health wise. To politicise this is unwarranted.
Abdul Jabbar,
New Delhi
There needs to be a distinction made between subsidising religious tours with public funds and facilitating the same without financial applications. The next step that governments both at the Centre and in the States need to take is to stop interfering in the religious affairs of all communities, an example being the administration of temples.
K.R. Jayaprakash Rao,
Mysuru