The rival camps of Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and Mufti Popalzai are convening separate meetings in Karachi and Peshawar respectively tonight to sight the Ramazan crescent amid Pakistan Meteorological Department's statement that there is no chance of moon sighting on Thursday night.

As per the Pakistan Met Department scientific predictions, the moon will be sighted on Friday (April 24). It means the holy month of Ramazan will start on April 25 (Saturday).

The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee meeting will take place in Karachi and in all zonal headquarters including the Lahore, Quetta, Islamabad and Peshawar on Thursday evening.

Chairman of the committee Mufti Muneebur Rehman will preside over the meeting at the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) office in Karachi.

See Also: No chance of Ramazan moon sighting Thursday: Met Office

Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai of Peshawar's Qasim Ali Khan mosque talking exclusively to 24NewsHd TV channel said that their local committee would meet Thursday for moon sighting.

Mufti Popalzai has a unique and odd precedent to dent the national unity to celebrate the religious festivals on the same day. For the last few years, Mufti Popalzai has been coming up with contradictory statements to official announcements.

He said that limited number of people would be allowed in the meeting due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.  “We will decide about the first fast of Ramazan on the basis of evidences gathered by the mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.” 

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said that, ‘For the first time in history, a member of the Ministry of Science and Technology has been included in the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee.”

https://twitter.com/fawadchaudhry/status/1252953069605851137

It is pertinent to note that Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked citizens to be more diligent on social distancing while performing their prayers in mosques during Ramazan. He warned of closure of mosques if the six-foot social distancing would not be implemented as per the 20-point agreed formula between the religious scholars and the government.