'Number of applications for Haj pilgrimage gone down because of slowing down economy'

Muslim religious leaders have expressed concern over not many Muslims applying for Haj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. They say the number has declined because of the prevailing economic situation.

Lucknow: A number of applications for Haj pilgrimage from Uttar Pradesh, the state which would generally have the largest number of applicants every year for the annual religious ritual, has come down drastically chiefly because of the slowing down Indian economy, Muslim leaders said.

They said the Haj Committee of India must look into the issue and should do everything possible to improve the situation.

"It's a cause of concern. It's chiefly because of the current state of the country's economy, and the value of rupee depreciating in the market has also resulted in lesser applications for the Haj pilgrimage from the state," Maulana Sufyan Nizami, spokesperson of Darul Uloom, told ETV Bharat here.

He said people have lost their businesses beacuse of the current economic slow down, hence the numbers have gone down.

Another religious leader Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali also expressed the same views and said once the economy is back on track, the number of applicants would improve automatically.

Firangi also urged the Haj Committee to do the needful to improve the situation.

India, after Indonesia, is the country that has been given the maximum quota for Haj pilgrimage for two lakh people every year. Out of that two lakh, 30,000 has been allotted to UP alone.