1st group of Indian Haj pilgrims arrive in Madinah
Jeddah: The first group of 419 Indian pilgrims for the upcoming Haj have arrived in Saudi Arabia to perform the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah, according to a media report.
Indian Ambassador Ausaf Sayeed, Consul General Noor Rahman Sheikh and Haj Consul Y Sabir received the pilgrims on arrival at the Prince Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah on Thursday, the Saudi Gazette reported.
In a significant step, Saudi Arabia increased India's Haj quota from 170,000 to 200,000, paving the way for 30,000 more Indians to go for the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in the kingdom.
The first chartered plane that took off from New Delhi late Wednesday night carried 419 pilgrims, the report said on Thursday.
Officials of the Indian Haj Mission said all the pilgrims were in good health and were given accommodation close to the Prophet's Mosque in the central area of Medina.
The pilgrims will stay in the Prophet's City for eight days and will move to Makkah on July 12.
Out of a total of 1,40,000 people performing the pilgrimage under the aegis of the Haj Committee of India, about 63,000 will arrive in Medina by July 21 and the remaining 77,000 will arrive in Jeddah between July 20 and August 5, the report added.
The Haj will take place tentatively from August 8 to August 14.
An office is functioning round-the-clock at Madinah airport to assist arriving Indian pilgrims.
Also, for the first time, the Haj Committee of India has put tags on the baggage of the pilgrims marking the building details along with the room number allotted to them, the report added.
Besides its main office and three branch offices, the Indian Haj Mission has also set up one 10-bedded dispensary and three branch dispensaries in localities where the pilgrims are staying.
Indian pilgrims landing in Jeddah will start moving to Medina from August 19 after performing the Haj.
They will then depart for their respective destinations in India from Prince Muhammad Airport in Medina after an eight-day stay in the Prophet's City.
The pilgrims arriving in Medina will leave for home from Jeddah starting August 16. The departure phase will continue until September 14, the report said.
In Jeddah, the first Haj flight from India will arrive on July 20 from Ahmedabad. However, pilgrims ferried by private tour operators started arriving in Jeddah on Thursday.
Last year, Saudi Arabia increased India's Haj quota by 5,000, while in 2017 it was increased by about 35,000
The Haj subsidy provided by the government was removed last year in the light of a Supreme Court order of 2012.
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Hemant Karkare killed by RSS-linked cop, not Kasab: Maharashtra LoP Vijay Wadettiwar
BJP writes to ECI for action against Cong leader Wadettiwar for 'defaming' Ujjwal Nikam
Mumbai, May 5: The BJP has written to the Election Commission of India seeking action against Congress and the opposition leader, Vijay Wadettiwar, for allegedly peddling lies and defaming its Mumbai North Central nominee and ex-26/11 prosecution lawyer Ujjwal Nikam.
Wadettiwar, the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra legislative assembly, purportedly called Nikam an "anti-national" and accused him of hiding the information that then Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare wasn't killed by Kasab's bullet during the 26/11 terror attack, but fell to a bullet of a policeman affiliated to RSS.
His allegations were based on the book "Who Killed Karkare" written by retired police officer SM Mushriff.
"As a responsible leader, the opposition leader should desist from making such comments that can help the enemy nation," Nikam said.
Terming Wadettiwar's statements as "false and not based on facts", Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shekar claimed they were aimed at defaming Ujjwal Nikam and inciting emotions.
"We have written to the Election Commission of India seeking action against Wadettiwar who is a star campaigner (of Congress) and also against the Congress party for peddling lies," he added.
Shelar further said (Ajmal) Kasab was sentenced to death for killing innocent people after following a due process of law.
Kasab was the lone terrorist who was captured alive by Mumbai Police during the 26/11 terror attack by Pakistani terrorists in which at least 166 people were killed and several others were injured.
Shelar wondered whether Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray supported the statement made by the Congress leader.
A former special public prosecutor, Nikam had represented the state in high-profile cases like the Mumbai serial bomb blasts and the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
He is making his political foray from Mumbai North Central seat on a BJP ticket and is pitted against city Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad.
