Muslim Central Committee urges Centre to reinstate Mangaluru as Haj embarkation point
Mangaluru: The Muslim Central Committee (R), Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, led by its President and former MLC Al Haj K. S. Mohammed Masood, has urged the Union Government to designate Mangaluru International Airport once again as a Haj embarkation point for pilgrims from Coastal Karnataka.
In a detailed representation addressed to Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, Masood highlighted the inconvenience faced by Haj pilgrims from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, and Hassan districts after the embarkation facility at Mangaluru was discontinued in 2019.
The letter noted that Mangaluru International Airport, the second busiest in Karnataka and ranking 12th nationally in international passenger traffic, had been operating Haj flights directly to Jeddah and Medina between 2012 and 2019. The service was stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not been restored since.
Masood pointed out that during the seven years of operation, thousands of pilgrims from the coastal and Malnad regions benefitted from the Mangaluru embarkation point, with more than 1,500 pilgrims travelling annually. He said the present arrangement, which requires pilgrims to travel 345 km to Bengaluru, has caused severe hardship, especially to elderly and female pilgrims. The journey involves high travel costs, including a round-trip taxi fare of around Rs.10,500, besides accommodation expenses and toll charges.
Under these circumstances, the Committee has appealed to the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Haj Committee of India to reinstate Mangaluru as a Haj embarkation point, considering the logistical advantages and public demand from the coastal region.
Health and Family Welfare Minister and Dakshina Kannada District In-Charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has also written to Minister Rijiju, supporting the request and urging the Centre to take prompt action on the matter.
Copies of the representation have been forwarded to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Minister for Haj and Municipal Administration Raheem Khan, Speaker U.T. Khader, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, Mangaluru MP Capt. Brijesh Chowta, and the Chairmen of both the Haj Committee of India and the Karnataka State Haj Committee.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
