The Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee will meet today (Thursday) in Karachi for the Ramazan moon-sighting, according to the spokesperson for the ministry of religious affairs.

Committee Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman will preside over the meeting.

Other zonal and district committees will also meet simultaneously, the notification from the spokesperson stated, adding that Islamabad’s zonal committee will hold a meeting at Kohsar Complex.

A day earlier, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry had ruled out the possibility of sighting the moon in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday, saying it will not be possible to spot the moon during sunset with telescopes.

He had confirmed this based on a computer generated image showing the exact position of the moon.

The image was generated by the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco).

“On April 23, the moon will only be 2 degrees above the horizon at sunset; it is impossible to spot the moon during sunset with telescopes. Therefore, if anyone living in Pakistan wants to fast with the people in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia it is up to them,” he had said.

The ministry had stated earlier, that the Ramazan moon would be sighted nationwide on April 24 and the month of Ramazan will begin from April 25.

It is expected that the ministry will hold a press conference today to officially announce the beginning of Ramazan.

Chaudhry had also announced that for the first time in the history of the country, the science ministry had been given representation in the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee.

The ministry’s Joint Secretary Dr Tariq Masood has been appointed as a member of technical support.

“This is a step in the right direction. Religious events and holidays should be a reason for unity instead of division between the people. On this positive note we must progress,” Chaudhry had tweeted.