Missing in spirit

REACHING a consensus over moon sighting spoiled the joy of Eid and seemed nothing less than a dispute. On the one hand it was the disagreement between NWFP government and Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee on settling the day and on the other Chairman of the committee who himself appeared double minded wasted precious time keeping the nation in a quandary. At long last, the committee made the announcement about an hour before midnight. The Result: a perplexed populace. Many people did not know that the next day marked the end of Ramadan. The subsequent confusion that was bound to emerge was widespread and according to reports some people in the walled city in Lahore observed Eid on Thursday. It is but a pity that the government had been unable to overcome this kind of misunderstanding. More important this is not just about celebration of an event, the day is symbolic of Muslim solidarity and it is regrettable that rather than using that occasion as a source to forge unity in our ranks, certain quarters within the country use it to their own purpose and create dissensions. One cannot blame the government straight away but the fact remains that it has the responsibility of seeing to it that things go smoothly according to the spirit of the festival. One had wished that this time around the government had handled the matter more seriously.