Country divided over dual Eids
Although most of the country’s population is celebrating Eidul Fitr today, other parts celebrated a day before.
PESHAWAR:
Although most of the country’s population is celebrating Eidul Fitr on Saturday (today), parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including the provincial capital, and some areas in Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan offered Eid prayers on Friday.
In Peshawar, the major Eid congregation was held at the Main Eidgah on the Charsadda Road but people in some parts of the Cantonment treated the day as being the last of Ramazan.
Talking to reporters after the Eid prayers, federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said the provincial government has decided to celebrate Eid on Friday in accordance with the decision of local ulema.
Bilour said that the religious festival should not be politicised. “We have no issues with anyone. Local clerics have announced Eid after carefully assessing people’s testimonies about the sighting of the moon,” he said.
Bilour said that the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee should have accepted testimonies of people belonging to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as they are also citizens of Pakistan.
Besides Peshawar, Eid was also celebrated in Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Hangu and Khyber and Mohmand agencies and other parts of the tribal areas. However, some areas of the provincial capital, Swat, Upper and Lower Dir, Chitral, Mansehra, Haripur, Abbotabad, Kohistan, Dera Isamail Khan and Tank district will observe Eid with the rest of the country on Saturday.
Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani and Speaker of the provincial assembly Kiramatullah Chagarmati offered Eid prayers at the Governor House in Peshawar.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was not alone in celebrating the Eid. Parts of Gilgit-Baltistan also offered Eid prayers on Friday.
Skardu was the first town in Gilgit-Baltistan to announce Eid on Friday after a Shia scholar of the central mosque said he had received enough evidence of moon sighting.
However, it was not until 3 am on Friday that Shia clerics in Gilgit decided to celebrate Eid the same morning. “Announcements were made at about 3am from the loudspeakers of the main mosque in Gilgit, asking people not to fast on Friday,” said Imtiaz Taj, a resident of the Amphery area.
Taj said that the late announcement of Eid was to prevent people from indulging in aerial firing, an act that has triggered sectarian violence in the past.
In Balochistan, Eidul Fitr was celebrated in Qila Abdullah and Qila Saifullah districts where large congregations were held on Friday while the other 28 districts of the province will celebrate Eid today.
Both the districts share borders with Afghanistan and usually celebrate Eid with the neighbouring country. Administrations of both the districts also follow the decisions of private committees constituted by local elders who usually make announcements about moon sighting.
(With additional input from Shabbir Mir and Shehzad Baloch)
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2010.
Although most of the country’s population is celebrating Eidul Fitr on Saturday (today), parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including the provincial capital, and some areas in Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan offered Eid prayers on Friday.
In Peshawar, the major Eid congregation was held at the Main Eidgah on the Charsadda Road but people in some parts of the Cantonment treated the day as being the last of Ramazan.
Talking to reporters after the Eid prayers, federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said the provincial government has decided to celebrate Eid on Friday in accordance with the decision of local ulema.
Bilour said that the religious festival should not be politicised. “We have no issues with anyone. Local clerics have announced Eid after carefully assessing people’s testimonies about the sighting of the moon,” he said.
Bilour said that the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee should have accepted testimonies of people belonging to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as they are also citizens of Pakistan.
Besides Peshawar, Eid was also celebrated in Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Hangu and Khyber and Mohmand agencies and other parts of the tribal areas. However, some areas of the provincial capital, Swat, Upper and Lower Dir, Chitral, Mansehra, Haripur, Abbotabad, Kohistan, Dera Isamail Khan and Tank district will observe Eid with the rest of the country on Saturday.
Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani and Speaker of the provincial assembly Kiramatullah Chagarmati offered Eid prayers at the Governor House in Peshawar.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was not alone in celebrating the Eid. Parts of Gilgit-Baltistan also offered Eid prayers on Friday.
Skardu was the first town in Gilgit-Baltistan to announce Eid on Friday after a Shia scholar of the central mosque said he had received enough evidence of moon sighting.
However, it was not until 3 am on Friday that Shia clerics in Gilgit decided to celebrate Eid the same morning. “Announcements were made at about 3am from the loudspeakers of the main mosque in Gilgit, asking people not to fast on Friday,” said Imtiaz Taj, a resident of the Amphery area.
Taj said that the late announcement of Eid was to prevent people from indulging in aerial firing, an act that has triggered sectarian violence in the past.
In Balochistan, Eidul Fitr was celebrated in Qila Abdullah and Qila Saifullah districts where large congregations were held on Friday while the other 28 districts of the province will celebrate Eid today.
Both the districts share borders with Afghanistan and usually celebrate Eid with the neighbouring country. Administrations of both the districts also follow the decisions of private committees constituted by local elders who usually make announcements about moon sighting.
(With additional input from Shabbir Mir and Shehzad Baloch)
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2010.