Indian UP govt places new curbs on Haj applications

Islamabad: The Hindu fundamentalist government in Utter Pradesh has decided to place new restriction for submitting applications for Haj.

The media reports have suggested that the Uttar Pradesh government is mulling to link the Haj application process with the Aadhaar number of the applicant to ensure so-called 'greater transparency' in selection of pilgrims.

Aadhaar is a card that issued for certain facilities. Officials believe that this would help in identifying those who had undertaken the pilgrimage more than once. Minister of State for Minority Affairs in UP government Mohsin Raza, said, "We are planning to link the process of filing of the Haj applications with the Aadhaar number of the applicants, so as to check whether the applicants had undertaken Haj earlier or not. This would ensure greater transparency." This would help the government identify the genuine applicants. "The process is about to start, and soon some concrete mechanism would be put in place," he asserted.

Asked whether the process of filing of Haj application would also be linked to Income Tax Returns, Raza said there was no such proposal. UP Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mazhar Abbas, said, "If linking Aadhaar with the Haj application process could ensure transparency, then it must be incorporated into the current system."