November 26, 2003	Wednesday	Shawwal 1, 1424

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PESHAWAR, Nov 25: The traditional split over celebrating Eid widened as the people in the NWFP are set to celebrate three Eids — not the usual two.

The majority of the people in the Frontier offered Eid prayers on Tuesday in line with the MMA-led government’s decision while tribesmen in the Bajaur Agency, Salarzai, Mamond Valley and Navagai celebrated Eid on Monday while the people of Charsadda, Swabi and Mardan began fasting on Oct 27, completing 30 days of fasting on Monday while parts of the Hazara region, including the Haripur, Abbottabad and Mansehra districts, and small pockets within the provincial capital as well as adjoining tribal areas would celebrate Eid on Wednesday in line with the Central Ruet-i-Hilal committee.

Areas, where Eid was celebrated on Tuesday, included districts previously falling under the now defunct divisions of Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Malakand.

Eid was also celebrated on Tuesday in most parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

While the NWFP chief minister Akram Khan Durrani and members of his cabinet offered Eid prayers in their respective hometowns on Tuesday, provincial governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain would follow the Eid in line with the federal government’s decision.

An official handout, issued by the Governor’s Secretariat, the NWFP governor would offer Eid prayers in Kohat, his hometown, on Wednesday subject to the announcement by the Central Ruet-i-Hilal committee.

A considerable number of people in Peshawar — belonging to the Deoband school of though — would also offer Eid prayers in line with the central Ruet-i-Hilal committee’s decision.

Similarly, personnel of armed forces posted in the NWFP and adjoining tribal regions would also follow the federal government viz-a-viz the celebration of Eid.

Apart from that people belonging to the Fiqah-i-Jafria and Ahl-i-Sunnat would also go along with the federal government in this regard.

This state of affairs also reflected the fragmentation in the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal — a conglomerate of six politico- religious parties — as its component parties belonging to the above two schools of thought did not follow their own provincial government’s decision regarding celebrating Eid a day ahead of the federal government.

In Peshawar and its adjoining areas, Eid prayers were offered in all major mosques on Tuesday, except for those belonging to the armed forces and religious schools of thought other than Deoband.

Attendance in commercial banks and federal government offices in Peshawar remained very thin on Tuesday as the majority of the people of the provincial metropolis celebrated Eid after fasting for 29 days on Nov 24.