Fawad terms KP govt’s decision to celebrate Eid as inappropriate

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry is quite critical of the decision of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to celebrate Eidul Fitr before the rest of the country. In a statement, the minister said that it was impossible to see the Shawwal moon on June 3. He said that the KP government’s decision to celebrate Eid on June 4 as an inappropriate decision, terming it an embarrassment. Fawad Chaudhry said that people can celebrate Eid whenever they want but it should not be based on lies. “It wasn’t possible for the moon to be sighted last night. You can’t celebrate a religious festival on the basis of a lie,” he said. “It is shameful that lies have been endorsed by a government,” the minister remarked. He advised the governments to refrain from becoming part of local fights. He assured that the problems pertaining to moon sighting will be resolved soon. “We want people to be held accountable for their actions,” he added. The KP government made the announcement to celebrate Eid today (June 4) after taking into account testimonies of moon sighting from all over the province, according to provincial Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai. The minister said that the government received a number of testimonies for Shawwal moon sighting from the erstwhile Federal Administrative Tribal Areas (FATA). The self-proclaimed Ruet-e-Hilal Committee of Masjid Qasim Ali Khan had announced to celebrate Eid today in light of the moon sightings testimonies from several areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Shahab-ud-din Popalzai, the chief cleric, claimed to make the decision in light of 25 witnesses received from ‘all over the provinces’. Earlier this week, Chaudhry said there should be no doubt that Eid-ul-Fitr will be on June 5. The federal minister has launched the country’s first moon-sighting website and Hijri calendar and announced the date of Eid-ul-Fitr based on the lunar observations.