Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee (RHC) Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman on Sunday asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to restrain ministers from commenting over religious matters without knowledge.
His comments came after Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter to strongly criticise the ulema and the RHC, saying that ulema cannot be given the authority to dictate the day-to-day affairs of the country and the government would instead introduce a lunar calendar for the next 10 years to make moon sighting for Islamic months non-controversial.
Speaking to the media, Mufti Muneeb urged the prime minister to rein-in ministers “as they seem to lack knowledge about the system”. He also lashed out at Fawad for saying that clerics had opposed Pakistan’s creation, saying that “history is a witness to the immense sacrifices the clerics made during the freedom movement and it is not appropriate to cite the role of a few clerics in order to criticise others”.
He said that Fawad has a habit of making baseless claims in order to stay in the limelight. “One must talk with caution while commenting on the clerics,” he said, adding that Fawad must know that RHC consists of members of Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO). He further said that RHC’s announcements have never been proven to be wrong.
“If Fawad is fond of making a lunar calendar then he should go ahead and make a calendar of 100 years instead of just 10,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Fawad said that a five-member committee had been constituted to prepare a ten-year calendar for Muharram, Eid and Ramzan to end the dispute arising from the sighting of the crescent.
پانچ رکنی کمیٹی قائم کی ہے جس میں سپارکو،محکمہ موسمیات اور سائنس اور ٹیکنالوجی کے ماھرین شامل ہوں گے یہ کمیٹی اگلے دس سال کے چاند، عیدین ، محرم اور رمضان سمیت دیگر اہم کیلنڈر کی تاریخ کا کیلنڈر جاری کرےگی۔ اس سے ہر سال پیدا ہونیوالا تنازعہ ختم ہو گا۔
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) May 5, 2019
He also strongly criticised the clerics, saying, “The decision about how the country will be run cannot rest with the religious clergy. Pakistan would not have gained independence if Ulema were given any authority as they used to oppose the creation of Pakistan and labelled [Quaid-e-Azam] Muhammad Ali Jinnah as an apostate. The journey ahead will not be led by religious leaders but the youth. Only technology can take our country forward.”
یہ فیصلہ کہ ملک کیسے چلنا ہے مولانا پر نہیں چھوڑا جا سکتا، اس رو سے پاکستان کا قیام ہی عمل میں نہ آتا کیونکہ تمام بڑے علماء تو پاکستان کے قیام کے مخالف تھے اور جناح صاحب کو کافر آعظم کہتے تھے، آگے کا سفر مولویوں نے نہیں نوجوانوں نے کرنا ہے اور ٹیکنالوجی ہی قوم کو آگے لیجا سکتی ہے https://t.co/HEXcJVWfTW
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) May 5, 2019
