The Ruet-e-Hilal issue gained a new dimension in the country and especially in Karachi when the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, appointed by the President of Pakistan, chaired by Mufti Munibur Rahman declared that Eid-ul-Fitr will fall on Wednesday, since the Eid-ul-Fitr moon was not sighted in Pakistan while a large number of people of NWFP and the Pashtoon areas of Balochistan celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr on Monday.
Most of the people in Karachi refused to receive Eid-ul-Fitr greetings from those compatriots, mostly from the NWFP, who offered Eid-ul-Fitr greetings and had earlier taken part in Eid prayers in several areas where residents from the NWFP and Pashtoon residence in the city, the faithful preferred to follow the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee decision.
The Pashtoon residents in Karachi who celebrated the Eid-ul-Fitr on Monday were perplexed to understand why they were celebrating the Eid while their compatriots and friends in Karachi city were not celebrating and were keeping the fast and also prepared to keep the fast for another day.
The issue also become a hot topic for debates in TV channels' discussions and the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan Fazlur Rahman group Ulema were trying to present their case for Ruet-e-Hilal justifying the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr on Monday in NWFP and other places while almost all the other panellists including Mufti Munibur Rahman disagreed with them. One the other hand traders all over the country were happiest with the decision of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee because they got one more day for Eid sales.