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Order on Haj pilgrims stirs storm

Arup Chanda in Calcutta

A directive by the central government regarding Haj pilgrims has exploded into a political storm.

The directive issued by a member of the Central Board of Excise and Customs stated that sniffer dogs would be deployed at the international airports to check the luggage of all Haj pilgrims.

A storm of protests has been raised by the Muslim community in Calcutta who consider dogs unclean. They fear the proximity of dogs and, particularly their saliva, would soil their belongings and violate the sanctity of their pilgrimage.

Sultan Ahmed, Congress legislator and president of the West Bengal Pradesh Quami Tanzeem, a moderate Muslim organisation, has sent a letter of protest to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Ahmed said, "Dog saliva is as unclean as pork to us and it will spoil the pilgrimage. We do not mind X-ray machines and security checks at the airports, no matter how long it takes. But we will certainly not allow dogs near the luggage of pilgrims."

In his letter to Vajpayee, Ahmed described the directive as 'highly objectionable' and pointed out that the directive by the board was issued at the behest of the Indian civil aviation ministry.

The ministry had ordered all customs officials to deploy sniffer dogs at the five embarkation points at Bombay, Calcutta, New Delhi, Madras and Srinagar for examining the luggage of all Haj pilgrims.

Each year 50,000 pilgrims make the Haj pilgrimage from India, out of which 5,000 are from eastern India.

Ahmed stated in his letter that the Haj begins the moment a pilgrim leaves his home for Mecca and is required to maintain strict cleanliness ( taharat) all through the journey.

He said the deployment of sniffer dogs would be sacrilegious.

Ahmed expressed surprise over the fact that this important aspect was overlooked when the directive was issued.

"The directive has caused serious resentment and its enforcement is opposed not only by Muslims but also by several non-Muslims who understand the religious implications," he said.

While Muslim customs officers are refusing to enforce the directive even non-Muslim officers are not using the sniffer dogs because of strong resentment.

The Haj pilgrims are worried that on their return their bags containing holy water and other sacred articles would 'spoiled' by the dogs.

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