KARACHI: As the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee meets on Monday to decide on the sighting or otherwise of the Shawwal crescent, a clutch of unofficial groups declared late on Sunday that the moon had been sighted and Eidul Fitr would be celebrated in several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal areas on Monday.
According to APP, the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee headed by its chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman will meet after Asr prayers in the main office of the Meteorological Department in Karachi.
Members of the Central and Karachi Ruet-i-Hilal Committees, officials of the Meteorological Department and other experts would attend the meeting. Members of the zonal committees would meet at their respective headquarters.
Editorial: Cashing in on Eid
However, a meeting of an unofficial committee held at the Masjid Qasim Ali Khan in Peshawar announced after midnight that 44 reports of the sighting had been received from various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal areas and Monday would be the first day of Shawwal.
Religious leaders in Bajaur Agency announced they had received reports of 22 sightings. Imams in Mohmand Agency also said the Shawwal moon had been sighted.
Ulema in the Shabqadar area of Charsadda district said they had received four reports of moon-sighting of which two were deemed to be credible.
Religious leaders in Lakki Marwat and Swabi districts made similar announcements.
In Bannu, some people fired in the air after hearing about the sighting of the moon. Thirteen people, including three children and four women, were injured by stray bullets.
Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2014