On the cards: New law to regulate Ruet panel affairs

Senate panel chief Hafiz Hamdullah says existing moon-sighting committee unconstitutional and illegal

ISLAMABAD: The head of a Senate committee has termed the role of Ruet-e-Hilal Committee ‘unconstitutional and illegal’ and said jurisdiction of the committee is now limited to the federal capital due to constitutional amendments.

“The existing Ruet-e-Hilal Committee is unconstitutional and illegal. We are trying to provide it a legal cover with this proposed law as the existing committee’s jurisdiction is only limited to Islamabad after devolution,” said Hafiz Hamdullah, Chairperson of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Religious Affairs, on Tuesday.

Hamdullah, who was chairing a meeting of the panel, said the Senate committee was working on a new law to streamline and regulate affairs of the moon sighting body.



“The new law aims to vest the moon sighting function with the federal government with a central committee based in Islamabad, which will also supervise the provincial moon sighting bodies,” he said.

The senator said many members of the existing Ruet committee were not qualified enough for the membership and proposed a tight criterion for Ulema to become its members.

“I propose a 20-year academic experience for a religious scholar to become a member of the proposed new central body, while those becoming member of the provincial moon sighting bodies should have 15 years of proven academic experience,” he said.

He said the new law proposed that a 15-member central committee be appointed by the prime minister on the recommendations of the religious affairs ministry. “The new law will now be sent to the federal cabinet for approval and then to the law division for vetting before it can be tabled in parliament.”

Popalzai’s mysterious disappearance

The Senate committee also sought explanation from the authorities about the mysterious disappearance of Peshawar’s Mufti Popalzai a few days ahead of Eidul Fitr this year.

Known for his controversial moon-sighting committee in Peshawar, Popalzai resurfaced in Peshawar a few months later. The committee was informed that replies in this regard were sought from the interior ministry and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa home secretary, but their answers were still awaited.



“Mufti Popalzai is a known figure. We should know what happened to him,” said Senator Saleh Shah. He suggested that Popalzai be summoned before the Senate committee. However, the chair said Popalzai’s issue would be taken up in the next meeting.

Plight of Hajis

The senators grilled religious affairs ministry officials over complaints by Pakistani pilgrims about poor facilities during Hajj this year. The officials accepted that there were some issues related to space and transportation during the busiest five days of Hajj, but they blamed the Saudi authorities for them.

The committee also directed the ministry high-ups to submit a detailed report about what action it had taken against travel agents and tour operators who had defrauded some pilgrims this year.