Daily Times

LAHORE: Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman lost his temper during a brief interaction with reporters on Tuesday evening, as members of the central committee and those at the zonal offices in different cities gathered to sight the Shawwal moon.

He got furious over flawed news being reported on private TV channels about the Shawwal moon being sighted in various parts of the country, on Tuesday evening.

He rejected all media reports and said, “Moon has not been sighted yet. Have mercy on the nation and don’t report false news.” Saying this he got up from his seat and grabbed a phone set from a person sitting on one side, unplugged its cable and carried the phone out with him.

Private news channels showed him lunging at the telephone set after a reporter said that an Auqaf Department official had informed reporters that the central committee had received at least 18 testimonies from Lahore, Lower Dir, Gujranwala, Multan, Shawwal, Sanghar and Dera Bugti.

Mufti Rehman said the matter was of utmost importance and must not be taken casually. He said that TV channels were misleading people by telecasting baseless reports. He said the committee had not received any testimony from anywhere until then and that no Auqaf Department official could step into the committee’s domain.

“Everyone here wants to be chairman of the committee. We will announce our decision in line with the Shariah,” Mufti Rehman said while leaving the room angrily.

In another development, suspended member of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Mufti Abdul Qawwi talked to a TV channel and said that he had received phone calls from at least three people that they have sighted the Shawwal moon. He said the committee should not make the moon issue controversial and announce Eid-ul-Fitr on Wednesday.

Religious authorities in India and Bangladesh have announced that Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramazan, will be celebrated on Thursday since the Shawwal moon has not been sighted in the neighbouring countries. The crescent moon, which marks the new lunar month, was not sighted on Tuesday, and therefore Wednesday would be considered the 30th and final day of Ramazan, with Eid-ul-Fitr falling on Thursday in the neighboring countries.