Committee formed to finalise exact dates of Ramazan, Eid and Muharram

Members include officials from SUPARCO, PMD and Ministry of Science and Technology

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has constituted a five-member committee to finalise exact dates of Ramazan, Eidul Fitr, Eidul Azha and Muharram for the next five years, Radio Pakistan reported.

A notification in this regard has been issued.

The committee includes officials from Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) and Ministry of Science and Technology.

Ministry of Science n Tech Committee to resolve #moonsighting controversy constituted pic.twitter.com/LknTHNOsOe

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) May 7, 2019

On Monday, Fawad Chaudhry said that it was unwise to spend Rs4 million for sighting the crescent. He said that he respected religious clerics but such issues were decided voluntarily.

“I have given my opinion, it’s not necessary that everyone has to agree with me, however, there is no wisdom in spending around Rs4 million.”

“There should be no compensation for moon sighting. Ruet-e-Hilal committee members should sight the crescent voluntarily, all knowledgeable clerics are in favour of my opinion,” the minister said.



He added that science and technology should be deployed for this purpose. If a ten-year calendar is made, then unnecessary expenditures can be saved.

The Ruet-e-Hilal Committee took strong exception to Fawad Chaudhry’s statement about the role of religious scholars in sighting of the moon and the creation of Pakistan on Sunday.

Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to ‘rein in’ his ministers after the federal minister for science and technology launched a verbal attack on Islamic clerics, accusing them of making lunar sighting for Islamic months a controversial affair every year as well as opposing the creation of Pakistan.