Centre cancels Haj subsidy: Who was it really for, anyway?

Both Central and state governments continue to spend thousands of crores on various Hindu festivals and pilgrimages

The Haj subsidy has often been raised by BJP leaders as an example of “Muslim appeasement”. Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has now announced that the subsidy will be stopped, raising the question once again of whether it was an excuse to keep the national carrier, Air India (now in the initial stages of disinvestment), financially afloat. At the same time, while cancelling the Haj subsidy, the Centre and several states continue to spend thousands of crores of rupees on promoting the social and cultural activities – and religious pilgrimages – of other communities, especially Hindus.

Despite the subsidy