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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Mamata demands PM's apology over 'Bankim da' remark in Lok Sabha
Cooch Behar (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he has insulted novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay by calling him "Bankim da".
Addressing a rally in Cooch Behar district, Banerjee said the PM was not even born when the country achieved Independence and yet chose to address one of Bengal's greatest cultural icons casually.
"You did not even show him the minimum respect he deserves. You should apologise for this, to the nation," she said.
The flashpoint was PM's reference to the author during a discussion in Lok Sabha on Monday to commemorate 150 years of the national song, Vande Mataram, written by Chattopadhyay.
TMC MP Saugata Roy objected to the use of the suffix 'da' and urged the PM to say 'Bankim babu' instead.
Modi immediately accepted the sentiment, saying, "I will say Bankim 'babu'. Thank you, I respect your sentiments," and asked in a lighter vein whether he could still address Roy as 'dada'.
Targeting the BJP, Banerjee claimed that it will destroy Bengal's culture, language and heritage if it comes to power in the state.
She also claimed that the assembly elections in the state will be declared soon after publication of the final electoral rolls following the SIR exercise, so that no one can challenge it in court.
