KP CM asks Ruet-e-Hilal Committee to convene its next meetings in Peshawar

NOWSHERA: Greeting the people on Eidul Fitr, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Friday suggested to the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee to convene its meetings in Peshawar to end the controversy over moon-sighting once and for all and promote the national unity.
He was talking to media at his hometown Manki Sharif where he celebrated Eidul Fitr. Member National Assembly Imran Khattak, candidate for the Nowshera district nazim slot Liaqat Khattak, provincial ministers and other senior governmental officials were also present on the occasion.
The festival was marked in parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas as per announcement of the unofficial ruet-e-hilal committee of Masjid Qasim Ali Khan, led by Mufti Shahbuddin Popalzai.
The chief minister said the religious festival was being celebrated on two different days as people offer testimonies of moon-sighting but the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee neither acknowledges them nor the committee meeting is convened in Peshawar. He said sighting the crescent moon is a must for starting fasting and marking Eidul Fitr. The CM said Mufti Muneebur Rehman hailed from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but even then did not accept the testimonies offered by the people of this province about the moon- sighting.
Pervez Khattak said the federal government should take notice of this issue. He said it would be an injustice if the federal government did not accept this right of the smaller provinces and reject testimonies provided by them about the moon-sighting.
The chief minister said fasting is started and Eid celebrated after sighting the crescent moon. He said people appeared before the religious scholars and offered testimonies about moon sighting and the ulema take the decision accordingly.
Pervez Khattak said the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee should convene meetings in Peshawar and wait for taking a final decision on the moon sighting till 11 pm. “This will resolve the issue for

ever and lead to national integration,” he believed.
The chief minister took the opportunity to talk about the political issues as well. He rejected the allegations of harassment leveled against him by the former secretary minerals, Mian Waheeduddin, who was relieved of his job on July 14.
Pervez Khattak said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission was an independent, impartial and legal institution, which arrested people on the basis of solid evidence.
“Whoever resorts to corruption, whether a minister or a secretary, will face accountability. Even I am accountable to this commission despite being a chief minister,” said Pervez Khattak.
The chief minister said he had recommended the name of an official to the secretary for a post, but became reluctant when he came to know about his misdeeds. “The officer never took charge of his office,” he pointed out.
The chief minister said he is a politician and the people turned to him to get his recommendations. “The secretary minerals had powers to defy my orders had I wanted to appoint the official against the post being the chief executive of the province,” he asserted.
Pervez Khattak said he wanted to eliminate corruption. “I have asked the bureaucracy to use own judgment, while taking decisions as bureaucrats are supposed to differentiate between right and wrong. “A bureaucrat will have to defend his act instead of shifting the blame to others,” said the chief minister.
Of the reports about the rejoining of the Qaumi Watan Party of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led provincial government, the chief minister said the power-sharing formula had been finalised and the QWP would be in the government again after Eidul Fitr.
The chief minister dispelled the impression of differences within the PTI over re-entry of the QWP into the power structure. “It is a decision taken by the leadership of the two parties (PTI and QWP). The parties are run through discipline and nobody can violate that,” asserted Pervez Khattak as he rejected the statement of former provincial minister Ziaullah Afridi who had said that the PTI was divided over QWP re-entry into the government.
The chief minister said he welcomed the re-polling for the local government elections slated for July 30 under the supervision of the Army. He said the PTI would have performed better had the Election Commission of Pakistan held the May 30 ballot under the Army supervision.
Pervez Khattak claimed the three-party opposition alliance supporters deliberately broke open the ballot boxes during the local government polling on May 30 and later cried foul as it was afraid of an imminent defeat in the vote.
“This is why the masses ignored the protest call given by the opposition alliance and the protest died down,” he added.
The chief minister said the PTI was the biggest political party of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “The best performance of the government is the main reason for that,” he said with confidence.
A large number of people were present on the occasion. The chief minister exchanged greetings with them and also listened to their problems and issued orders on the spot to have them addressed.