PM Modi Says It Was After His Request Saudi Arabia Increased Hajj Quota

Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that he is receiving blessings of thousands of women after his government allowed them travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj without “Mehram”. The PM also said that it was after his request, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia increased the Hajj quota for Indian Muslims. He also added that his government made the visa rules easier for those seeking to go for Hajj. He made the remarks while addressing a rally in Aligarh.

He said, “I had requested the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to increase the Haj quota for our Muslim brothers and sisters in India. Today, not only has India’s Haj quota increased but visa rules have also been made easier”. The Prime Minister also added that his government fulfilled the dreams of thousands of ‘Muslim sisters’ who wished to go to Hajj. He said, “earlier our Muslim mothers and sisters could not go alone for Haj. The government also allowed women to go for Haj without ‘Mehram’ and I am being blessed by thousands of sisters whose dream of going for Haj has been fulfilled”.

Saudi Arabia lifted the requirement of Mehram (Male guardian) for the Muslim women to perform Hajj in 2022 October. As a result, women over 45-year-old are allowed to travel alone to the country. In 2023, over 4,300 Indian Muslim women were able to travel to Mecca without Mehram. Earlier, women who did not have a male guardian to bring with them could only travel to Mecca with a large groups of other women.

In 2019, Saudi leader Muhammed Bin Salman announced the increase in the quota of Indians allowed to perform Hajj a year. While earlier the allowed number of people were 1,75,025, it was increased to 2 lakh in 2019. The announcement came after PM Modi’s visit to the Gulf country.

Last year, Congress urged the Prime Minister to restore the quota of travel expenses for Hajj performers. The working president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee said that the BJP government has raised cost of the Hajj pilgrimage. He said, “till 2019, 2 lakh people were sent for Haj every year through the Central Haj Committee and the cost for them was less than Rs 2.9 lakh”, as quoted by Deccan Herald. He also added that since 2023, the Central Hajj Committee has reduced the quota of Hajj performers to 1.5 lakh and the Hajj Committee has increased the fee to Rs 3,7 lakh. Kerala government and various Muslim outfits also raised concern regarding the high airfare imposed on the Hajj pilgrims from the state.