Kerala Couple Cancels Hajj Pilgrimage Donates Land For Homeless People

The couple’s decision came after they saw the plight of one of their neighbours living on rented premises, who found it tough to cremate the body of a family member. A Kerala couple was making arrangements for their long-cherished dream of going on the Hajj pilgrimage and were all set to sell their land to raise funds for the trip when they had second thoughts. Married for over 30 years, Aranmula residents Haneefa (57) and Jasmine (48) decided to donate their 28-cent ancestral land to ‘LIFE Mission’, the state government’s flagship housing scheme for the landless people. The couple’s decision came after they saw the plight of one of their neighbours living on rented premises, who found it tough to cremate the body of a family member. “We planned to sell our property and use the funds for Hajj. But, in the past two months, we saw some incidents where certain families found it difficult to cremate their family members as they don’t have their own property. Such incidents made us rethink our plans,” Haneefa told PTI, according to The New Indian Express . He said that a person recently passed away in their locality and a community leader donated his four cents of land to that family to conduct cremation and last rites. “After that incident, we decided to use the land to help the needy instead of going for Hajj,” Haneefa said. Local Self-Government Minister M V Govindan hailed the couple’s decision and said it was an inspiration to others. Govindan added that the couple was an inspiration to society’s forward journey, which needs to embrace every human being. “People like Haneefa and Jasmine have set an example of humanity and become role models for society,” the minister said. Health Minister Veena George visited the couple’s house and received the agreement to hand over their property for the Life Mission on behalf of the Aranmula Grama panchayat. The land, owned by Jasmine, was received under the Left government’s ‘manasodithiri mannu’ campaign, said Govindan. “Till now, the government has received 926.75 cents of land in 13 locations for the Life Mission scheme. Also, 830.8 cents of land have been assured in 30 locations. In addition, the project has received a sponsorship of Rs 25 crore to construct 1,000 houses,” the minister said, adding that he hopes more people would come forward to help the poor and draw inspiration from the couple. He said that the Left government has, till now, handed over 2,95,006 houses to beneficiaries under the Life Mission scheme. In addition, 34,374 houses are currently under construction. “Also, there are 27 housing complexes under construction,” he said.