Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

In the coming years, India will stake its claim to be the country with the largest Muslim population and accordingly seek the higher Hajj quota of 2.5 lakh pilgrims from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“According to our Minister (Smriti Zubin Irani), India has now surpassed Indonesia and Pakistan and become the World’s largest Muslim population country. Soon we are going to claim our annual Haj pilgrim quota accordingly”, Nirupama Kotru, Joint Secretary MOMA, who was part of the Irani-led delegation to Saudi Arabia, revealed to Awaz-The Voice.

“Madam has told me that India’s Muslim population is now more than that of Indonesia and Pakistan”, Kotru said.

“As of now, we are getting the Hajj quota of 175,000 pilgrims as per the Census 2011. The total population of Muslims in India according to the Census 2011 was around 17 crore. The Saudi government has the formula of 1 pilgrim for 1000 Muslims. Since the Census 2021 could not be conducted due to COVID-19, we are trying to convince the Saudi authorities to raise our annual quota to 2.5 lakh pilgrims as per the growth rate of our population and other projections. We are hopeful to achieve it in 2025”, Kotru said.

Kotru, a Kashmiri Pandit officer of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) 1992 batch, along with her Minister Irani, was among the two non-Muslim women who were, for the first time in history, invited and permitted to visit three of the most revered places -Masjid al-Nabwi, Masjid al-Quba and the mountain of Uhud-in Madinah early this week. Both the Indian women were allowed to enter the otherwise restricted areas without the mandatory headscarves.

Kotru clarified that they did not enter the Prophet’s mosque and visited its periphery.

Smriti Irani visits King Abdulaziz International Airport's Haj Terminal in Jeddah 

Besides, the two women, the 10-member delegation had, MOS External Affairs V Murleedharan, CPS Bakshi, a Sikh senior officer from the ministry, and three Muslim officers - Liyaqat Ali, Director, MOMA and Chief Executive Officer Haj Committee of India, Indian ambassador in Riyadh Dr Suhel Ajaz Khan and Consul General in Jeddah, Mohammad Shahid Alam.

Asim Mahajan, Joint Secretary, MEA, and a few others were also in Irani’s delegation. They traveled by a fast train from Jeddah to Madinah and back, inspected hotels and other logistics, visited some holy places, signed agreements, and attended Hajj and Umrah conferences.

According to the Census 2011, India’s total population was 121.09 crore (1210.9 million) out of which 17.22 crore (172.20 million) were Muslims. It constituted 14.2% of the population. 

Even though the Census 2021 was not conducted due to the pandemic, official projections suggest the size of the Muslim population is currently between 24 crore (240 million) and 25 crore (250 million).

According to the American think tank PEW, in 2017 India was the third largest Muslim population country with 20 crores (200 million). 

CPS Bakshi, Joint Secretary Hajj, told Awaz-The Voice from Saudi Arabia that MOMA would soon launch a special App ‘Hajj Suvidha’ to provide solutions to most of the commonly identified issues regarding logistics, etc. about the pilgrimage.

“All the 1.75 lakh Indian pilgrims will remain connected through this App. Their issues and complaints will be addressed in real-time. We endeavor to make the pilgrimage easier for all particularly the women and the aged pilgrims. It is for the first time that a Cabinet Minister went to the last mile, made an inspection of all facilities and arrangements, interacted with her counterparts in the Saudi government, and signed treaties to ensure the best facilities for the pilgrims.”

Smriti Irani and V Muraleedharan meeting Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) President Prof. Dr. Ali Erbas

He said earlier it was left to the Indian embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General. 

CEO Haj Committee of India, Liyaqat Ali, narrated how enthusiastically the Umrah pilgrims and other visitors from different countries received Minister Irani and took selfies with her at all the places she visited.

Such an enthusiasm was very much expected from the Indians. But the pilgrims from other countries were equally excited to see and meet our Minister. They all recognized her. A thick group of pilgrims from Uzbekistan accosted our Minister with incredible enthusiasm. Many from Pakistan, Turkey, and other countries met her with similar warmness. It froze our movement for hours”, Ali said.

Kotru said that all arrangements were being put in place to ensure a tension-free journey and stay for all the Indian pilgrims. She said that more than 500 volunteers, 50 personnel of the Central Armed Forces, and 150 physicians would be in the official Indian team to serve the pilgrims.

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“One of our remarkable achievements is that around 4,000 Indian women pilgrims performed Hajj last year independent of a Maharram (custodian). This year, we have received some 6,000 such applications. We are sure that 7,000 to 8,000 solo Indian women pilgrims would perform Hajj this year”, she said. 

She said that the flights would operate from May 10 for 30-40 days.