The 'challenge' of moon sighting

This is apropos a Business Recorder editorial carried by the newspaper recently. That the issue of moon sighting always causes considerable controversies is a fact. But this issue has acquired a new dimension mainly because of country's science and technology minister Fawad Chaudhry's comment over the working of Ruet-e-Hilal Committee. Spending Rs 4 million on moon sighting is not wise, according to him. His remark has been rebuffed by the head of the committee Mufti Munibur Rahman rather contemptuously.
The situation, however, underscores the need for adopting a strategy with a view to pre-empting any controversy over the sighting of either Ramazan moon or the Shawwal moon or both. Insofar as the science and technology minister is concerned, he must come up with a viable solution; he must avoid becoming part of any controversy in this regard.