Tripura Hajj pilgrims to fly to Saudi Arabia tomorrow

Agartala (Tripura), Aug. 17 (ANI): Eighty two Muslim pilgrims left Tripura by air in two batches on Wednesday to take part in the Hajj, one of the biggest annual religious congregations in Saudi Arabia. Under the guidance of the Centre, the Tripura Minority Welfare department and the State Hajj Committee all made arrangements for the pilgrims to visit the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The pilgrims including 21 women today left for Kolkata. They will fly by special aircraft to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, informed M K Nath, Director of the state minority welfare department. Nath and Minority Welfare Minister Sahid Choudhury came to Agartala airport to see off the pilgrims and wished them a safe journey and a smooth Manasik-e-Hajj (Hajj rituals). All arrangements of transportation, boarding and lodging at Kolkata Hajj House and distribution of travel documents and issuance of boarding passes were checked by the Minority Welfare Department officials before the pilgrims boarded the flight. M J Abu Taher, who for the first time is going to take part in the annual pilgrimage sail, "I am going to Saudi Arabia for taking part in the Hajj and I am feeling very happy being able to take part in this." Ruksana Begum said, "I am thankful to Allah that I am able to go for the Hajj and perform a prayer for the good of everyone. Everyone should also pray so that I can perform my prayer peacefully." Meantime, Aminul Islam who had come to the airport to see off his father for Hajj expressed, "There around 30 to 35 lakh people are going to get together and shall pray and spread the message so that everyone can live peacefully along with our brothers from all religions throughout the globe. This year, the Hajj Committee of India would be facilitating the pilgrimage for a total of 1,00,020 Hajj pilgrims from 21 points across India and apart from this another 36,000 Hajj pilgrims will proceed through private tour operators. (ANI)