Firstly, it must be accepted that the Haj subsidy violates the dictionary meaning of 'secular'. A truly secular state is 'not concerned with religion' and should not, therefore, specially encourage or promote any religion; a secular state should consider religion as a purely personal matter that ought not to be allowed to interfere in matters of state.The fact that the Haj dole was introduced by the Narasimha Rao government subsequent to the demolition of the Babri structure in December 1992 is proof enough that the subsidy was an act of blatant appeasement of the Muslim community.
There is the fact, too, that the Haj subsidy has now ballooned into a pretty big lollipop to one exclusive religious community. Excluding the ministry of external affairs's annual expenditure on the Haj goodwill mission (mentioned but not quantified in the Union Budget), the Haj subsidy itself has grown from Rs 250 million in 1994 to Rs 1,370 million (as per the revised Budget 2000-2001) and to Rs 1,545 provided in the Budget 2001-2002.
