ISLAMABAD: A draft of ‘Pakistan Ruet-e-Hilal Bill 2017’ bill is in the works right now which will media outlets from announcing news about moon-sightings prior to the official announcement by the chairman of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee.
Individuals not complying to this law will be charged with fine ranging anywhere between Rs200,000 and Rs500,000. Media houses will have to pay a much larger amount in case of any noncompliance.
As disclosed by a senior official of the ministry who was talking to Express Tribune, the draft bill is in its initial stages.
This bill is being drafted in response to an incident involving the Chairman of Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Mufti Muneebur Rehman who lashed out on media’s hasty coverage of the Eidul Fitr moon sighting last year. The bill is an attempt at avoiding any such incidents in future.
The source also revealed that these untimely announcements are usually done by private Ruet-e-Hilal Committees that have emerged all across Pakistan.
He said that right now there is no law in the country that would discourage media houses from making untimely announcements. If the law is passed, the ministry of religious affairs will be able to take action against any such individuals or media houses.
Moon-sighting is a sensitive matter for Muslims and any misleading news could cause major inconvenience to them.
However since the law has still not been passed, media and private committees can only be requested to comply with the ministry of religious affairs, according to Noor Salam Shah, the DG (R&R), Ministry of Religious Affairs.
The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee is scheduled to hold a meeting on May 26 in Islamabad for Ramzan moon sighting, according to a statement obtained by Express Tribune. Whereas zonal/district Ruet-e-Hilal Committees will hold meetings at their respective headquarters at the same time.
Courtesy: Express Tribune