Hajj pilgrimage-2019 application distribution starts: Minister Zameer Ahmed
Bengaluru, October 20: Minority Welfare, Hajj and Wakf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan said that the Indian Haj Committee has started the process of distributing the applications for Hajj Pilgrimage 2019 from today.
Inaugurating the process of distributing the Hajj applications for 2019 at Hajj Bhavan at Thirumenahalli in the city on Saturday, the Minister said that for last year’s Hajj pilgrimage, total 18,427 applications were submitted to the State Haj Committee and among them, 6,624 persons were selected through lottery. This time, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi would be urged to increase the quota by 2,000-2,500 for the state, he said.
Action against private tour operators
The cases of private tour operators cheating the pilgrims were increasing. They take the money from the Hajj pilgrimage aspirants and disappear. Those who want to prefer private tour operators for Hajj pilgrimage should confirm whether the tour operators have permission or not. The owner of Hareem Tours of Tilak Nagar had collected amount from 138 persons. But later, he was disappeared. For 2019 Hajj pilgrimage, all the 138 persons would be selected without lottery. Among 138 persons, around 15-20 persons were in economically poor condition and he would send them for the pilgrimage in his own expenses, he said.
“The Hajj Committee has been collecting Rs 2.30 lakh from each person. Of which, Rs 76,000 was being spent for flight ticket. If we take the flight tender, then the cost might be around Rs 36,000. If the central government gives us the Karnataka quota, we could arrange the remaining facilities and it would help the people”, the Minister said.
State Haj Committee Chairman Roshan Baig said that he and Minister Zameer would try to increase the quota this time. Last time, the pilgrims from Karnataka had some accommodation problems in Mecca and Madina. Steps would be taken to avoid such problems next year, he said.
In November-December, Central Haj Committee delegation would visit Mecca and Madina to review the accommodation facilities. Since the process of application submission was started three months before, best accommodation could be expected near the Haram and the tomb of Prophet Muhammad, he said.
Maulana Lutfullah, Maulana Zainul Abidin, State Haj Committee Executive Officer Sarfraz Khan, Members M.S. Arshad, Balqish Banu, Syed Sanaullah, BBMP Member Syed Mujahid and others were present.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
