ISLAMABAD: Amid its failure to enact a law to provide legal and constitutional cover to the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, the government has decided to adopt strict attitude with Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai this year too so that the Shawwal crescent sighting does not become controversial in the country once again.

Pakistan has witnessed controversies during previous years as two Eids were observed in the country mainly because the independent cleric Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai of Masjid Qasim Ali Khan in Peshawar disregarded the decisions of the committee and made separate announcements over sighting of the Shawwal moon.

However, with no time left for parliamentary proceedings, as the government cannot get the draft bill on the committee approved by both the houses of parliament, the Ministry of Religious Affairs has decided to forward the matter to the interior ministry.

With term nearing end, govt unlikely to get draft bill on Ruet-i-Hilal Committee approved by both houses of parliament

“This is a matter of serious concern and we do not want to see that there are two Eids in any part of the country even after we are not in government,” said Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousuf.

“There are issues with one or two persons only and they (interior ministry) will send Mufti Popalzai to Dubai again this year so that people can celebrate Eid together,” he added.

The government’s tenure ends on May 31 while Eidul Fitr is expected in the mid of June. However, the minister said that certain things were beyond party lines and whosoever formed the next government would adopt the same course of action.

Though the matter has been lingering for several years, the government has failed to enact a law to provide legal and constitutional cover to the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs forwarded the draft law to the cabinet secretariat for approval in December 2017 but it has not been taken up by the latter yet.

Mr Yousuf said a nine-member central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee was set up in 1974 under a resolution passed by the National Assembly.

Now the committee comprises 26 members but so far it has not been provided constitutional and legal cover and there is no proper criteria of selection of its members.

The matter was first taken up by Senator Hafiz Hamdullah of the JUI-F, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs, who asked the ministry to clear the issue in June 2016 while saying that the main

reason of the conflict over moon sighting was the lack of legal and constitutional status of the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee.

Since the matter is a devolved subject under the 18th Amendment, resolutions under Article 144 of the Consti­tution were required from the provincial assemblies to give constitutional cover to the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee.

It took the government around 19 months to complete the formalities and in December 2017, the Ministry of Religious Affairs forwarded the draft bill to the federal cabinet for approval.

The draft bill envisages that TV channels announcing moon-sighting before a formal announcement by the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee will be fined up to Rs1 million and may also face suspension of their licences.

The draft bill suggests six-month imprisonment or Rs50,000 fine or both for those providing false evidence of moon-sighting.

Meanwhile, parliamentarians have criticised the government for not taking the issue seriously though the controversy over moon-sighting creates a negative impression of the country at global level.

“There should not be any state within a state and it is the duty of the government only to announce moon-sighting but at the same time the government should take this responsibility seriously,” Ali Muhammad Khan, member of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Religious Affairs, said.

He said non-serious attitude of the government gave space to non-state actors to play a role in moon sighting.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2018