May 17, 2011

27004 Haj applicants selected through draw of lots in UP

Lucknow: Tears welled in the eyes of devotees with some beaming for making it to the lottery on Monday for the pilgrimage of Haj-2011 while those who failed termed it as wish of Allah and vowed to apply next year. The qurrah (Lottery) for the selection of the devotees for Haj-2011 was organised at Ganna Sansthan on Monday.
Some of them were really lucky like Mohd Haneef, (76), a native of Phoolbagh in Hussainganj who made it to the list for the fifth time. A retired railway employee, he will be leaving for pilgrimage in group of five. "Age is not a constraint, it is Allah's blessing and I will again apply next year," said a happy Haneef. There were others who were not so lucky but some of them made it to the list in their first attempt. Aziz Ahmad, (41), and his wife Nasreen Khatoon from Lucknow were from the lucky lot having been successful in their first attempt. "It is all Allah's wish that we will be hopefully performing Haj this year," he said.


Senior state cabinet minister and Chairman, State Haj Committee (SHC) Naseemuddin Siddiqui inaugurating the qurrah
This year also Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of pilgrimage for Haj-2011. Draw was conducted for 27004 candidates from a total of 51454 applications. The list also includes 5297 candidates who were exempted from lottery. They are basically the applicants over 70 years of age who were allowed along with one companion and the candidates who had unsuccessfully applied for past three consecutive years. Applicants who could not travel last time for lack of passport and had already submitted the money were also given green signal for Haj-2011.
Earlier, senior state cabinet minister and Chairman, State Haj Committee (SHC) Naseemuddin Siddiqui, inaugurated computerized draw of lots for the applicants of the state. The list of the selected is also available on the website of the UP State Haj Committee, www.uphajcommittee.com. The selected candidates will be leaving for over a month long journey from the state capital after nearly four months from now. The reserved category devotees are supposed to submit the copies of their passwords and Rs 31, 000 at the office of the UP State Haj Committee before June 15, 2011.

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