ISLAMABAD: Residents of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province started celebrating Eid Al-Fitr on Monday after Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai of Peshawar’s Qasim Ali Khan Mosque announced at least 17 people in his province had sighted the Shawwal moon.
Eid Al-Fitr marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of Islam’s lunar calendar.
A central moon-sighting body has been empowered in Pakistan to declare Eid after receiving and evaluating testimonies from people across the country.
The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announced on Sunday the crescent for the month of Shawwal was not sighted in Pakistan and the South Asian nation would celebrate Eid Al-Fitr on Tuesday.

“The federal committee can take perks and privileges, but not testimonies from our province,” Popalzai criticized the moon-sighting body in a Twitter post.
He asked people to raise their voice over the issue, saying the central committee should present its evaluation parameters to everyone.
“At least listen to our verified testimonies within the framework of Shariah,” he added. “If they do not meet the standards set by the Shariah, [the moon-sighting committee] should share the shortcomings of these testimonies to the whole nation.”

A spokesperson of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administration, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, announced later the provincial government had decided to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr after receiving testimonies from 130 people in the province.

This is not the first time the people of Pakistan are celebrating Eid on two different days.
The moon-sighting controversy takes place almost every year, making some people believe the government should try to resolve the issue by adopting scientific means.