Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday observed Eid Al Fitr after a surprise, late-night announcement by the chairman of the country’s moon sighting committee ‘Ruet-e-Hilal’ on Wednesday.
Most Pakistanis were earlier mentally prepared for another day of fasting as the Meteorological (MET) office of the country had forecast little chances of the moon sighting in the region — Pakistan, Bangladesh and India — on Wednesday.
However, after a tense wait and lengthy deliberations by the members of the Ruet-Hilal Committee, the announcement came at around 11:30pm and everyone rushed to revisit the earlier plan.
No scientific evidence
The former Science & Technology Minister, Fawad Chaudhry, who is currently holding Information portfolio and had been vocally supporting ‘reliance on science’ instead of the moon-sighting committee, criticised the decision saying there was no scientific evidence of the moon sighting in Pakistan on Wednesday.
It should be decided once for all whether we want to celebrate Eid relying on scientific evidence or in accordance with the wisdom of the moon sighting committee, he said.
‘Moon sighted in KP, Balochistan, Sindh’
Abdul Khabeer Azad, the newly appointed chairman of the committee, said the committee decided for Eid as the moon had been sighted in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh.
“We had sufficient evidence and our zonal committees’ heads and members interviewed the people who had claimed to have sighted the moon.
After interviewing the witnesses, it was concluded there was reliable evidence of the moon sighting in those parts of the country,” he said.
No sooner did the decision come, than netizens took to social media to express their surprise.
Karman Khan, a senior TV anchor, in his tweet ‘cautioned’ the nation after the announcement of the moon sighting that they should re-check before celebrating Eid as the ‘government had the option of U-turn.’
