By By Syed Bukhar Shah
The coalition partners, the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), seem divided over the issue as the senior partner is advocating celebration of Eid in the light of the announcement made by Masjid Qasim Ali Khan while the junior partner wants celebration with other parts of the country.
“Instead of further dividing the Muslims, we should try to unite them, particularly on such important occasions,” remarked a PPP leader.
The ANP, the champion of Pakhtun rights, has supported Masjid Qasim Ali Khan and local Ruet-e-Hilal Committee by observing Ramazan when Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai announced the sighting of the Ramazan moon while the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee chief Mufti Muneebur Rehman announced the moon had not been sighted.
The ANP leaders argued they were trying to resolve the issue once and for all and suggested observance of Ramazan and Eid with Saudi Arabia.
It may be recalled that the people of the NWFP have been observing and celebrating Ramazan and Eid on different days due to the controversial decision of the local Ruet-e-Hilal committees.
By following Saudi Arabia, they claimed they could unite the people and end this controversy forever. The members of the local Ruet-e-Hilal Committee had always complained that evidence for moon sighting collected by them was not given importance by the central committee and that caused division among the Muslims.
The PPP provincial president and minister for health, Syed Zahir Ali Shah, said recently his party believed in Federation, adding it would be a strange thing if they observed such occasions separately, ignoring the people of other three provinces. When reminded of the decision of the ANP leaders, he said they (ANP) had presented suggestions and it was not the decision.
Political leaders of various parties and Ulema from various schools of thought were also divided over the suggestion to observe the festivals with Saudi Arabia, saying the Muslims had been directed to observe and celebrate such occasions after sighting of moon.
Some said it was not necessary to celebrate such occasions on one day while some argued this division could be ended by following Saudi Arabia.
The provincial leader of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), Dr Syed Alam Mehsud, supported Masjid Qasim Ali Khan’s decision, saying the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee had been ignoring the evidence from the people of the NWFP without any valid reasons. He pointed to the historic role of Masjid Qasim Ali Khan in this connection, saying the people of the province and in the tribal areas had been following its decisions since long.