Govt announces four-day Eid holiday

Eid holidays will be from July 5 to July 8

The government on Tuesday announced a four-day holiday for Eidul Fitr across the country, Express News reported.

The interior ministry has issued a notification in this regard. The holidays will be observed from July 5 to July 8, the notification said.



Meanwhile, the Ministry of Religious Affairs has geared up efforts to achieve a consensus so that people can celebrate Eid on the same day throughout the country.

For this purpose it will approach clerics in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), especially from Masjid Qasim Khan, where the evidence of sighting the moon for Ramazan and Shawwal often contradicts with the findings of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee.

Pakistan Meteorological Department had on Friday said Eidul Fitr will likely be on July 6. The Met Dept said the chances of Eid moon being sighted on July 5 are extremely high. The Eidul Fitr moon will likely be visible in Balochistan’s Jiwani and Pasni coastal lines.

Following the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee’s announcement, the first day of Ramazan was observed on Tuesday, June 7, across Pakistan.

Earlier, more than 50 muftis issued a fatwa against Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai of Masjid Qasim Ali Khan, saying he always announced the start of Ramazan and Eid celebrations a day before the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee.

Eid likely to be on July 6: Met dept

In the presence of the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, announcing the start of Ramazan or Eid celebrations separately in Peshawar amounted to interference in state affairs, said the clerics.

The country celebrated Eid on three different days in 2014 because the committee and religious scholars from K-P failed to reach a consensus on the sighting of the Shawwal moon.