Haj pilgrims in the State are worried about the new set of rules of journey to the birthplace of Prophet Mohammed in August 2021.
The last date for submitting application forms for the journey is said to be January 10, 2021.
Arif Ahmed, a resident of T. Nagar, who planned to make the trip in 2020, had to drop the idea because of the pandemic. “I then thought I could go in the coming year but we hear that the cost has more than doubled and with business being down this year, I just cannot afford it. The stay has become costlier due to their insistence on star category,” he said.
Age restrictions
Haj group organiser and Millath Haj Services CEO Fathima Muzaffer said the journey per head was likely to cost close to ₹5 lakh instead of the usual ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh. “We hear that there are age restrictions too, meaning senior citizens aged above 60 cannot go. But usually seniors form a large chunk of travellers. This journey is an once-in-a-lifetime thing and the prohibitive cost would mean lesser numbers can only travel,” she said.
Manithaneya Makkal Katchi president M.H. Jawahirullah said that the Centre had reduced the number of boarding points and had removed Chennai from the list. “They are stating COVID-19 as a reason. If all these people flock to Kochi, it would only crowd that place. The government should increase the number of boarding points,” he said.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami recently wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging the Centre to reconsider it’s decision to remove Chennai from the list of boarding points.
The Centre’s decision would cause inconvenience to Haj Pilgrims from the State, the Chief Minister said in his letter.
