The National Assembly has approved a law aimed at addressing persistent conflicts over the dates of religious celebrations. The measure does this by prohibiting private moon-sighting committees and giving federal and district Ruet-e-Hilal committees exclusive authorization.
Individuals detected operating unauthorized moon-sighting committees may face a Rs500,000 fine under the proposed bill. Furthermore, people who submit false testimony regarding seeing the moon face a three-year prison sentence, a Rs50,000 fine, or both.
Furthermore, the bill prevents television stations from publicizing moon sightings before the formal announcement. Any channel that violates this law will be fined Rs1 million, and its broadcasting licence may be suspended.
The bill also specifies the membership of the central Ruet-e-Hilal committee, which will include a chairman, two scholars from each of the four provinces, and a cleric from Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir. Suparco, the Meteorological Office, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs will also be represented on the committee.
Because many religious occasions are controlled by the lunar calendar, there is frequent debate about moon sightings in Pakistan. Various sources compete to be the first to proclaim the moon’s sighting, resulting in disputes between the central committee and non-governmental committees with the country celebrating numerous Eids.
The bill will become law once it is passed by the Senate.