Lucknow: The city of Nawabs is all set to have a direct air link with the Iraqi city of Najaf, considered to be sacred by Shias. And if the officials of the All India Shia Personal Law Board are to be believed then in addition to Lucknow, the holy city of Varanasi too would get a direct air link to Najaf around the time of Muharram.
Throwing light on the developments, spokesperson of AISPLB, Maulana Yasoob Abbas, said, "All India Shia Personal Law Board had been demanding a direct air link between Lucknow and Najaf, which is considered to be one of the holiest places for Shias. A direct flight would help the pilgrims to save time as well as money. Till now, the usual practice had been to go via Dubai or Bahrain." In this regard, Maulana Mirza Mohammad Athar had met the Union civil aviation minister Ajit Singh and had even written a letter to him, added the spokesperson.
11/11/12 Arunav Sinha/Times of India
