PESHAWAR: A case has been registered against local clerics in North Waziristan district who claimed to have sighted the Shawal moon and had announced to observe Eid-ul-Fitr on Wednesday (today).
Police have lodged an FIR in North Waziristan against the local unofficial Ruet Hilal Committee under Ehteram-e-Ramazan Ordinance and Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).
According to an official at the Miranshah police station, a case has been registered against a cleric and several others who claimed to have sighted the Eid moon, and police are trying to arrest the culprits.
Two separate cases have been registered under sections 511 of the Ehteram-e-Ramazan Ordinance, Loudspeaker Act, and sections 148 and 149 of the MPO.
The tribal district declared Eid after several witnesses claimed the sighting of the moon in Haider Khel village of Mir Ali Tehsil, Waziristan. Meanwhile, a prayer leader of the local mosque in Miranshah also announced Eid.
According to FIR, the accused were alleged to have tried spreading unrest by giving false testimonies as neither the moon has been seen in the whole of Pakistan nor Eid was declared in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, the religious scholars of North Waziristan clarified that only Haider Khel village is celebrating Eid while the rest of North Waziristan will be observing fast.
A day ago, a group of local in North Waziristan district have claimed sighting of Shawwal moon and announced to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr. Mohsin Dawar, a member of the National Assembly from North Waziristan, tweeted that 20 people in the Haider Khel area of North Waziristan had claimed to sight Shawwal moon.
Earlier, it was reported that in an attempt to ensure that Eidul Fitr is celebrated the same day across the country this year, Ruet-i-Hilal Committee members have started approaching and persuading the clerics who had publicly opposed the announcement related to Shawwal moon sighting by the national body in the past.
