Nepal Muslims criticize government’s Haj ‘ban’

Kathmandu, Oct 12: After protests by Buddhist monks against the Nepal government’s alleged intervention in their religion, now the Muslim community is in an uproar over the bid to control the number of devotees making the annual pilgrimage, ‘Haj’ to Saudi Arabia’s holy city Mecca, warning to take to streets in protest.
The protests started after the new government of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal formed a 20-member Haj Committee this month to facilitate the passage of Haj pilgrims to Mecca in November. According to Taj Mohammad Mian, convenor of the Unified Muslim National Struggle Committee, an umbrella of over two dozen Muslim organisations, the committee has instructed the district administrations not to issue passports to Haj pilgrims who are above 65 years of age. “Every year, about 500 people go on Haj from Nepal,” Mian told. “Last year, there were 475 people. Most of them are above 65, including octogenarians. The new order is a virtual ban on Haj. It is anti-Islam since it is the dream of all Muslims to go on Haj once in a life time.” Mian said that no other south Asian country, including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, had issued such a directive.

The protesters are also demanding that the Nepali ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Hamid Ansari, be recalled, blaming the ‘ineptitude’ of the embassy there for the ‘ban’. They are also condemning the new Haj Committee, which comprises members of the ruling parties, saying parliament had ordered the government not to have more than seven members for the sake of efficiency. Two members of the community on Sunday moved court against the new committee, saying it violated parliamentary guidelines. Though Nepal, once the only Hindu kingdom in the world, became secular three years ago, the religious minorities say the change has been simply on paper.

“Unlike India, there is no permanent Haj Committee to work throughout the year for the pilgrims. Every year, the government appoints an ad hoc committee barely two months before the journey when due to the rush of pilgrims from all over the world, airlines' flights are booked six months in advance and so are all accommodation in Mecca.” In the past, Nepal’s then prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala had to make a personal request to the Pakistan government which asked its national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, to add a special flight for Haj pilgrims for Nepal. The previous government of Maoist prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda had signed a six-point pact with the protesting Muslim community, agreeing to form a permanent Haj Committee and a Haj House near a key mosque in Kathmandu where pilgrims coming from different parts of Nepal could stay before embarking on the journey to Mecca. Though the agreement was passed by the cabinet, none of the pledges has been implemented, including establishing a Muslim Commission to address the problems of the Muslims, who remain one of the most disadvantaged communities in Nepal. About five per cent of Nepal’s nearly 29 million population is considered to be Muslim. (IANS)