Allahabad HC disallowing Haj subsidy 'correct' : BJP

New Delhi, Aug 26 (UNI) Welcoming the judgement of Allahabad High Court disallowing subsidy for Haj pilgrims, the BJP today said India should not subsidise Haj pilgrimage in the name of secularism.

BJP Parliamentary Party Spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said even courts in Pakistan had held that subsidising Haj pilgrimage was against the tenets of Islam and none of the 60 core Islamic nations, including countries in West Asia, took over the burden of pilgrimage.

India, he said, was subsidising pilgrimage up to Rs 40,000 per person and the total subsidy was somewhere in the range of Rs 250 to Rs 300 crore. "We are not against the government giving money to the Muslim people. This money could be for opening new modern utilised schools to educate children or take up welfare programmes to help the poor muslims", Mr Malhotra said.

He said Sikhs going in Jathas in Pakistan or Hindus going to Manasarovar in China did not get any subsidy and the yardstick of the government should be common for all citizens, he said.

UNI MCN AD KP1702