PESHAWAR, Dec 18: The NWFP government has decided that only the provincial Ruet-i-Hilal committee will be authorised to make announcements about the sighting of the Zilhaj moon.

NWFP Religious Affairs Minister Maulana Amanullah Haqqani told a news conference on Monday that the provincial Ruet-i-Hilal committee would be backed by subcommittees in each district of the province.

“But the subcommittees will not be authorised to make announcements about the sighting of the Zilhaj moon,” he explained.

The minister made the announcement after a day-long meeting of religious scholars from across the province on Monday. The meeting, which was chaired by religious scholar Maulana Hasan Jan, was attended by Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rahman.

The provincial religious affairs minister explained that the district Ruet-i-Hilal committees would not have the authority to make announcements about Ramazan or Eid moon-sighting. He said that they would just submit their reports to the provincial Ruet-i-Hilal committee. He added that independent moon-sighting committees would be discouraged.

Maulana Haqqani said the provincial Ruet-i-Hilal committee would ensure that it passed a unanimous report to the central Ruet-i-Hilal committee.

Answering a question, the NWFP religious affairs minister said the provincial Ruet-i-Hilal committee would do its utmost to convince the federal government to honour the findings of all district Ruet-i-Hilal committees.

He said the provincial Ruet-i-Hilal committee would wait for the response of the central Ruet-i-Hilal committee.

“If the central Ruet-i-Hilal committee fails to respond or refuse to accept religious requirements about moon-sighting, then the provincial government would announce its decision,” he said.—PPI