Although it is not so rare to have more than one Eid, the country will be witnessing Eid on three different dates this year following a serious controversy over the sighting or otherwise of the Shawwal moon.
People in North Waziristan, Khyber Agency and some parts of Charsadda celebrated Eid yesterday (Saturday), the majority of KP areas and Pushtoon-dominated towns of Balochistan such as Chaman, Gulistan and Qila Abdullah are rejoicing the feast marking the end of the fast of Ramazan today (Sunday) while the rest of the country will be observing the first day of Shawwal with ceremonies of festivity tomorrow (Monday).
The Shawwal moon has not been sighted and as such the Eid ul Fitr would be celebrated on Monday, August 20. This was announced by the Chairman of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, Mufti Munib-ur Rehman, in Karachi on Saturday, according to APP.
He chaired a meeting of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee which was held here at the Met Complex in Karachi to decide about the sighting or otherwise of the Shawwal moon. The meetings of the Zonal Ruet-i-Hilal Committees were held at their respective headquarters.
The Chairman of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, Mufti Munib-ur Rehman, announced that no evidence was received from anywhere in the country regarding the sighting of the Shawwal moon. Therefore, it was unanimously decided that Eid ul Fitr will be celebrated on Monday, August 20, he further stated.
In Peshawar, however, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced on Saturday that Eid-ul-Fitr would be celebrated today (Sunday), a private TV channel said. Kp senior minister Senator Bashir Bilour said the provincial government had decided to celebrate Eid as people sighted moon in different areas of the province. He said, members of Provincial Zonal Ruet-e-Hilal Committee had received evidence of Shawwal moon sighting from several witnesses. In Peshawar, Mufti Shahabuddin Pappalzai also announced that Eid would be celebrated today (Sunday).
In North Waziristan and Khyber Agency and some parts of Charsadda the faithful celebrated Eid on Saturday. In North Waziristan, local Ulema Committee announced on Friday that Shawwal moon had been 'sighted' in Mir Ali, headquarters of North Waziristan Agency. The committee had received evidence of moon sighting from six witnesses.
Similarly, faithful hailing from Tehsil Bara, Khyber Agency also celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr. It may be mentioned here that it was for the first time in many years that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest of the country observed the first Ramazan on same day.