Don’t appoint politicians to Haj Committee
Several Muslim organizations have requested President Mahinda Rajapaksa to appoint a permanent independent committee to deal with Haj pilgrimages stating that appointments of politicians to such a committee had resulted in many abuses..
These organizations say that the Haj committees so far appointed have commercialized the pilgrimages serving the needs of Haj travel agents by allowing them to fleece the Haj pilgrims.
It was noted that the committee appointed to study charges against the Haj committee had recommended appointing an independent committee comprising eminent people to look into Haj pilgrimage affairs, they said.
The organisations also alleged that the free travel facilities provided to Haj pilgrims given by the government of Saudi Arabia had often been misused to satisfy the supporters of political parties.
They also request that from each pilgrim less than 3 lakhs should be levied and the standard facilities ensured during the Haj pilgrimage.
Another request of these organizations was to limit the number of times that one could perform Haj to once in 5 years thus preventing those who are going on pilgrimage Mecca frequently..
The Island
