CM Stalin writes to Union Minister to Permit Muslims
In a letter to Union Minority Affairs minister Mukhtar abbas Naqvi, tamil Nadu chief minister MK stalin said, "Hajj pilgrims from tamil Nadu and adjoining states should be allowed to resume their journey from Chennai." In this regard, the tamil Nadu government issued a press release: MK stalin, the chief minister of tamil Nadu, issued a letter to the Union minister for Minority Welfare today, encouraging him to take the necessary efforts to continue the Hajj pilgrimage from chennai, as before, for the sake of pilgrims from tamil Nadu and nearby states.
He submitted a letter to the prime minister of india on november 11, 2021, seeking that chennai Airport be permitted to be the Hajj pilgrimage destination for the year 2022. Pilgrims from chennai, tamil Nadu, Kerala, pondicherry, andaman and Nicobar, and lakshadweep will benefit from direct Hajj flights from chennai to jeddah and back from 2020 to 2020.
In the year 2019, more than 4,500 pilgrims from tamil Nadu, pondicherry and andaman and nicobar islands started their Hajj pilgrimage from Chennai. The chief minister has pointed out in his letter that the Hajj pilgrims from tamil Nadu have been allowed to start their pilgrimage from kochi, Kerala. The chief minister said that Haj pilgrims from tamil Nadu would have to travel more than 700 km to reach kochi and face many difficulties and additional costs. He said the reduction in the number should be reconsidered and that petitions had been received from the Islamic community in this regard.