Once again
The federal government tried, and provincial governments tried, but nobody could get the clergy to unite for a united Ramzan and Eid. There was a feeling that the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee’s decision would be taken more seriously this time, especially since the religious affairs ministry made visible efforts to preempt the controversy this time. Yet, as is apparent, there was little the Committee could do to implement its decision nation-wide, and there was even less the religious affairs ministry could do as its directives went unheeded. And once again KP and tribal areas chose to observe Ramzan, and subsequently celebrate Eid, with GCC countries, particularly Saudi Arabia.
Significantly, it’s not as if the Committee’s or ministry’s directives went against any interpretation of the scripture, no matter how extreme. Islam, after all, follows the lunar calendar. Yet the desire to associate dates with Arabia, mostly out of emotional attachment to the holy land, seems to override even the more straight forward requirements. And of even more concern is the official machinery’s paralysis each time its requests or warnings are disregarded. There definitely needs to be sterner follow up when official instructions are not followed, especially when not only the law of the land, but also of the faith, is violated.
They clergy, too, must get its act together, especially the bloc that finds representation in the highest echelons of power. They wield surprising influence among the rank and file whenever there is need to unite and resist the state – as in certain aspects of the National Action Plan, for example – but they seem unable, rather unwilling, to involve themselves when their cadres offend the state and the faith. Surely they understand the logic of one Eid –just like the state tried to regulate prayer timings recently – and therefore must play a more proactive role in straightening up out-of-line elements among themselves. There is a constant need to be vigilant against regressive elements, wherever they are found.
