Ending the Haj subsidy and diverting the funds to minority education is welcome
When John Bunyan penned what is thought to be the first novel written in (old) English in the 15th century and called it, as was the fashion in those more permissive times in terms of titles, The Pilgrim’s Progress From This World To That Which Is To Come, Delivered Under The Similitude Of A Dream, he is thought to have founded the Christian allegorical school of writing, as it were. While the current ruling dispensation, even its fiercest supporters would concede, is not exactly known for its literary prowess, in implementing with relative alacrity the Supreme Court judgment to phase out the subsidy given to Indian citizens of the Muslim faith who wish to undertake the Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, the Government has laid the path for the progress of the community. After all, in the beginning was the deed.
Coming on the heels of the Government’s initiative to criminalise instant triple talaq, a section of the Indian Muslim community may feel it is being picked on for special treatment. Fortunately, this section overwhelmingly comprises of the exclusively male clergy, orthodox community leaders and political activists who have mobilised support from Indian Muslims on the basis of religion so they can be safely left to shout themselves hoarse without paying them excessive attention. The focus for the Narendra Modi regime, which in its official statement iterated that the move seeks to empower minorities without appeasement, must now be entirely on bringing to fruition the first part of the assertion. The Government made a symbolic start to its avowed aim of empowering the minorities by pointing out that with the recently negotiated deal with Saudi Arabia to re-start the sea route for the Haj and the record number of 1.75 lakh Indian Muslims who will be undertaking the pilgrimage this year, the Haj from now on would be one undertaken “with dignity and without any subsidy”.The announcement that the Rs 700 Crore subsidy would now be diverted towards educational empowerment of girls from the Indian Muslim community too is an excellent idea. To this end, the very first steps the Government needs to take are in the direction of ensuring a mainstream education for our Muslim daughters through Central schools under the CBSE. But, as ever in India, the real issue is one of implementation.
At the political level, with the Haj subsidy now a thing of the past — even the Congress has had to willy-nilly support the move — the attention of major, responsible political parties will now hopefully be on a development agenda and delivery of quality governance to its citizens regardless of their mode of worship.