Daily Times

Sir: Reference your editorial of June 20 regarding moon-sighting controversy, can anyone tell me why central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Munibur Rahman continues to hold a position he no longer deserves.

A video clip posted recently by a resident of Rawalpindi went viral on social media. He claimed sighting the Shawal moon on Thursday evening from the rooftop of his house. And so did his two sons — 18 and 17 years old — as well as some shopkeepers in the neighbourhood.

The obviously credible and reasonable man said he tried to contact Munibur Rahman, but found his Jazz number switched off. Moments later, the mufti appeared on PTV to announce that the moon could not be sighted anywhere in the country.

In the clip, the Rawalpindi inhabitant has raised a very pertinent query: “I’m not from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (from where eyewitness accounts are rarely entertained). Why couldn’t I reach the Ruet body chief?”

This query can be best answered by Mufti Munib, who seems to be suffering from the equine eye disease called moon blindness. In line with his decision, the nation had to fast on the first of Shawal. Who is responsible for this?

M AFZAL KHAN

Peshawar

Published in Daily Times, July 2^nd 2018.