Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: In continuation of his outreach to the Muslim community, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the latest edition of his Mann Ki Baat, made a special mention of the fact that over 4,000 Muslim women from India performed Haj without ‘mehram’ (male companion) due to his Government’s intervention.
Their journey this year was very special in many ways. These are women who have been able to go to Haj without a male companion that was not allowed earlier.
“Many of them have written to me to express their joy and give their blessings on their return. There are some letters that bring you a lot of joy and inspiration,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister thanked the Saudi Arabia Government for this change in policy. He called the shift “transformative” as the number of women going for Haj from India without men accompanying them was not 50 or 100, but over 4,000.
It was only in 2019 that Saudi Arabia had agreed to allow women to travel without the permission of a male relative. A total of 4,314 Indian women went for Haj without ‘mehram’ this year, the largest since the reform.
Muslim women have been at the centre of the BJP’s outreach towards the community, starting with the move to criminalise triple talaq.
