Haj panel wants only pilgrims with passports

Speaking to the media, at a two day training camp for Haj pilgrims in the City on Saturday, Chairman of the Karnataka State Haj Committee S Mohammed Ghouse Basha said that more than hundred people from Karnataka would be unable to undertake the Haj pilgrimage due to non-arrival of their passports.

“In almost all these cases, the applicants have had some criminal record or the police have delayed sending the verification report, so we intend to ask the Central Government to only allow those with valid passports to apply from next year,” he said. The Saudi Arabian government has made it mandatory from the present year for Indian travellers to possess valid passports for their travel to Mecca, instead of the temporary permit that used to be issued earlier, specifically for this purpose.

Mangalore flights

For the first time, people from North Karnataka can travel from Mangalore as six flights have been introduced from this city. Flights from Mangalore will be departing from October 25, while 17 flights from Bangalore will be departing on November 7.

A total of 6,100 people will be travelling from Karnataka this time for the 45 day pilgrimage. A two-day training camp is being conducted in Bangalore by the Forum for Training Haj Pilgrims, about the dos and donts, along with advice about precautions to be taken in lieu of H1N1 influenza.

Syed Ajaz Ahmed, who speaks at the camp, said that similar camps are held in Gulbarga, Mysore and Bellary.  The camps help the travellers familiarise themselves from immigration to social and religious conduct.