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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Ex-minister Ramanath Rai hits out at BJP leader Ashoka for ‘irresponsible’ comments on KC Venugopal
Mangaluru: Congress leader and former minister B Ramanath Rai slammed BJP leader R Ashoka for calling AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal an agent of the party high command, and asked if the general secretary and other office-bearers in the BJP were commission agents too.
Rai, who addressed a press meet at the Congress office in the city on Friday, expressed fury over the recent comments of the BJP leader that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was presenting himself in a shameless manner in public life. Ashoka, who is also Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, had said that the Congress government had ‘broken every previous record on corruption-related controversies’.
“Ashoka has spoken with sheer ignorance and displays his lack of maturity, as he often does while facing the media. KC Venugopal has been working at organization of the party and it is unbecoming of Ashoka to criticize Venugopal as he did,” Rai told reporters.
“Being in a responsible position, how acceptable is it for Ashoka to pass disrespectful, random comments about another leader who also holds a responsible position? If KC Venugopal is indeed an agent of the party high command, what should we consider BJP leaders to be? Are they brokers?” he asked
Commenting on Ashoka’s allegations of corruption in the Congress government in Karnataka, Rai pointed out, “The KSRTC land was sold to private parties when he (Ashoka) was transport minister. We can find several such cases across the state, which need to be probed.”
The former minister, however, refused to comment on the incident that occurred at Mangaluru airport during CM Siddaramaiah’s visit to the city recently.
Former mayors Ashraf and Shashidhar Hegde, Congress activists Vishwas Kumar Das, Subhodaya Alva, Shabeer, Baby Kundar, Padmanabha, Nazeer Bajal and Prem were present.
