Pakistan: parts of Khyber Pakthunkhwa celebrate Eid on Monday

Islamabad: Parts of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakthunkhwa province celebrated Eid on Monday, while an official moon sighting committee was yet to decide when the festival marking the end of Ramadan fasting month should be observed.

The Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee was due to meet in the southern port city of Karachi later in the day to decide on the sighting or otherwise of the Shawwal crescent and make an announcement.

In several parts of the northwestern region including provincial capital Peshawar, clerics on Sunday declared that the moon had been sighted and Eid Al Fitr would be celebrated on Monday.

In the past too, Eid has been celebrated in parts of the province on a different date than rest of the country, thwarting government efforts to ensure same-day celebration throughout Pakistan.

The government committee headed by chairman Mufti Muneebur Rahman was to meet after Asr prayers at the main office of the Meteorological Department in Karachi.

Members of the Central and Karachi Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, officials of the Meteorological Department and other experts were to attend the meeting and also receive reports from official regional committees.

The State Bank of Pakistan had made preparations to meet demand for brand new currency notes for Eid by printing fresh new notes and arranging currency counters at bank branches across the country.

Last year, the amount printed was 35 billion rupees (Dh1.3 billion). The year before that it was 114 billion rupees and this year the amount being printed is more than 157 billion rupees, according to media reports.

Imran Khan, chief of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf party which governs the province, visited the Bannu camps for people displaced from North Waziristan tribal region due to military operation there and celebrated the festival of Eid with them