Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday announced to have constituted a committee with an aim to put an end to the controversy surrounding moon sighting in the country.
The committee will finalise the calendar to indicate the exact dates of Ramazan, Eidul Fitr, Eidul Azha and Muharram for the next five years with 100 percent accuracy, according to a notification issued by the ministry.
“Ministry of Science and Technology Committee to resolve moon-sighting controversy constituted,” he tweeted Tuesday morning, embedding a notification issued to this effect.
The committee will be led by Ministry of Science and Technology Joint Scientific Adviser Dr Muhammad Tariq Masood, while COMSATS University Islamabad Meteorology Department lecturer Waqar Ahmad, Meteorology Department Deputy Director Nadeem Faisal, Meteorology Department Deputy Director Abu Nasan and Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) DCM Ghulam Murtaza would be its members.
It is pertinent to note here that just two days ago, Chaudhry took to Twitter to criticise what he termed disputes that emerge every time when religious scholars sit for moon sighting before a new month of the Islamic calendar.
The minister wondered why religious scholars were using 100-year-old telescope for the purpose of moon sighting. He said the whole matter revolved around the setting and rising of the sun and it was a scientific process.
He said the religious scholars though that using a century old telescope was perfectly right while the use of new technology was wrong in their eyes. “I will put my suggestions before cabinet and it is up to them to approve it,” he said.
Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman, however, took strong exception to the minister’s comments and had warned that ministers with no knowledge of religion should not be allowed to comment on such matters.