Kerala Muslim Jamat general secretary Syed Ibrahim Khaleel Bukhari Thangal has appealed to the State and Central governments to address the concerns of Haj pilgrims from Malabar about increasing flight charges from the Calicut International Airport.
Thangal said here on January 27 that reports of doubling flight charges for Haj pilgrims from the airport had come as a shock for thousands of prospective pilgrims. “Haj pilgrimage is a yearning of a Muslim from childhood. People find money for the pilgrimage through thrift, and most pilgrims preferring the government service for Haj are from poor backgrounds. Increasing the flight rate from Karipur will be harming their dreams,” said Thangal.
He said 70% of pilgrims from Kerala chose Karipur as their preferred embarkation point, and that a vast majority of them were women and elderly. “A solution should be found to this issue immediately,” Thangal said in his statement here on Saturday.
