India's Supreme Court Stays Ban On Haj Subsidy

On Monday, according to The Hindu, the Supreme Court of India stayed a temporary restraining order that had been issued in August by the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh prohibiting the state's government from granting subsidies to Haj pilgrims. The Supreme Court emphasized that because the Haj was underway, it would be too disruptive to stop subsidies for this year. Reducing the number of Indian Muslims attending would adversely affect the number of places Indians could obtain for the Haj in the future. However the Supreme Court expressed concern that a subsidy was being given only to pilgrims of one faith and ordered the Allahabad High Court to decide the challenge to Haj subsidies on the merits before next year's Haj. (See prior posting.)