Shams Ahsan Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Indian government is now in the process of finalizing a two-year-old Supreme Court judgment which called for devising a five-year Haj framework instead of pursuing what it termed an annual ad-hoc arrangement. Former union minister and national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Syed Shahnawaz Hussain is here to initiate the process of selecting accommodation for pilgrims for a period of five years instead of the current practice of renting buildings for one year at a time. “It is the thrust of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to make sure that pilgrims coming from India don't face any problems,” he said in an exclusive interview with Saudi Gazette. Shahnawaz, who is the chairman of the long-term accommodation selection committee, listed two major problems which pilgrims face while undertaking the journey of a lifetime: Poor quality of air transportation and accommodation in the two holy cities. He said he has recommended that Air India should itself transport the pilgrims or outsource it to regular airlines instead of chartering old and ill-maintained aircraft. For long-term accommodation, building owners have been urged to contact the Indian consulate directly without the involvement of any middlemen. “We are planning to rent buildings with accommodation capacity of 25,000 to 50,000 pilgrims. After the reduction in the Haj quota, we get applications from 35,000 people opting for Category A accommodation. So we are looking to rent buildings in the green zone to accommodate all of these pilgrims in one place,” said the BJP leader. Shanawaz, a three-term member of parliament, said that whatever injustice Muslims have faced so far in India, the Modi government will treat them in a fair and just manner. “Muslims are fully safe in the hands of Modi. He does not see Indians as Muslims or Hindus or Christians, but as equals. That's why he keeps on reiterating that his book of faith is the constitution of India. So he cares for 1.2 billion Indians,” Shahnawaz said. As an astute politician, Shahnawaz does not feel that it is a risk for his party to form a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) whose leader Mufti Muhammed Sayeed after taking the oath as chief minister credited Pakistan and separatist forces for the peaceful elections in the state. Shahnawaz repeats what the home minister said in parliament that the credit for peaceful elections goes to the election commission, security agencies and the people of the state. “We have formed the government in Jammu and Kashmir on the issue of development,” he said. “The BJP and its coalition partner in Jammu and Kashmir PDP have their own views on Article 370 and the Armed Forces' Special Powers Act (AFSPA). We have bowed to the will of the people to provide them with a viable government. This is in the national interest. “It's the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have worked as an adhesive and have bound us together.” Shahnawaz thinks that the fight in the politically conscious state of Bihar, where assembly elections are due later this year, will be challenging. But he is confident that the people of Bihar will vote for development and so will vote the BJP to power. When asked about a survey by a television channel projecting him along with his party colleague Sushil Modi as a chief ministerial candidate for the state, and whether the BJP would like a Muslim chief minister, Shahnawaz categorically said that he was not in the race of chief ministership. But he said he will work hard to make sure that his party wins the election.
