In a meeting of local relics held on September 19 at Masjid Qasim Khan in Peshawar, it was announced that the moon had been sighted at various places of the province and Eid would be held on September 20. The meeting was also attended by Federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmad Bilour.
The meeting of Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee was held on September 20 and after receiving Shahadat of the moon from various places of Pakistan, Chairman of the committee Mufti Munib-ur-Rehman announced that Eid would be held on September 21. Many news channels of Pakistan showed the moon live.
It could easily be assumed from the position and size of the moon that the verdict of Mufti Munib-ur-Rehman was correct and the first of Shawwal 1430 Hijri would be on September 21. The Meteorological department and Suparco also seconded the committee's decision.
Two days later, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, while talking about the two Eids in Pakistan, did not mention the Eid sighting claimed by the Masjid Qasim Khan meeting but emphasised on the fact that Pakistan should celebrate Eid with Saudi Arabia. More than 80 percent Pakistanis trust Mufti Munib-ur-Rehman. Ghulam Ahmad Bilour called Mufti Sahib is from Musharraf's tenure.
But as a matter of fact, Mufti Sahib always denied the sway of ex-president Musharraf and performed his duty according to the Shariah. Though my knowledge about such religious matters is very limited, but as far as I know, the Islamic calendar is dependant upon moon sighting and the jurisdiction of Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee is within Pakistan.
The Islamic calendar in Pakistan is complied according to the monthly verdict of the committee about the moon sighting. If we have to observe Eid with Saudi Arabia, why do we have a Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee in Pakistan? The government should discourage non-official committees and make sure that the decisions of Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee be implemented throughout Pakistan.