Hajj 2022: Final quota announcement for JK expected by March 1: Official
Srinagar: The final announcement for Hajj quota for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh for the year 2022 is expected by March 1, Executive Officer Hajj Committee of J&K Dr Abdul Salaam Mir said.
He said that it depends on the quota whether all pilgrims registered till February 15 would perform Hajj or the Hajj committee would go for draw of lots.
“The last date of submitting the forms for Hajj 2022 was February and there was no further extension. So far, 11500 applications from Jammu, Kashmir and Leh have registered and few hundred applications are in the pipeline that include those who have incomplete forms and invalid passports etc,” Mir said.
He said that at all India level, 90,000 applications have been received so far.
Asked whether all 11500 registered Hajj pilgrims would perform Hajj this year, he said it was up to the quota to be allotted to J&K and Leh.
“This all depends on how much quota Saudi government would allot to India. If the quota is good enough, then I believe all the registered Hajj pilgrims will be allowed to proceed for the pilgrimage. But if it is less, then we will have to go for draw of lots,” Mir said.
He said that the final announcement by the Saudi government about Hajj 2022 quota is expected by March 1. “Things will be clear by March 1,” he said.
He, however, said that it would be after two years that Hajj will be allowed by the Saudi government this year.
“We lost two years to pandemic—2020 and 2021. Now that Umrah is going on and pilgrims are allowed to perform Umrah and visit both holy cities of Mecca and Madina, we expect good quota,” Mir said.
The Hajj officer said that this time around, every pilgrim has to have Covid vaccination certificate.
“This is mandatory as per the fresh guidelines,” he said.
Pertinently, Saudi government has announced that this year annual pilgrimage of Hajj will be allowed amid strict adherence to Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB). (KNO)
Former cop gets life term for killing wife, brother-in-law
Press Trust of India
Banihal/Jammu: A local court on Saturday sentenced a former special police officer (SPO) to life imprisonment for killing his wife and brother-in-law in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district over a decade ago.
Principal Sessions Judge, Ramban, Haq Nawaz Zargar also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the convict Abdul Gafoor, who caused his appearance through video conference from district jail, Udhampur, where he is currently lodged.
Gafoor had shot dead his wife Rehmata Begum and brother-in-law Farooq Ahmad Malik using his AK-47 rifle in Mitra village of Ramban on May 10, 2011.
He was subsequently arrested on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway while he was trying to flee.
In his nine-page order, the principal sessions judge said Gafoor, a resident of Jhora-Thatri village of Doda, is punished for offence under Section 302 (murder) of the Ranbir Penal Code and sentenced to life imprisonment.
He shall also undergo concurrent sentence of life imprisonment for offence under section 7/27 I A Act. Both sentences shall run concurrently, the order read.
Of the Rs 1 lakh fine imposed on Gafoor, Rs 50,000 shall be paid as compensation to his children with Rehmata Begum and the rest shall be forfeited in favour of the State, it said.
