Sindh announces 5-day Eid ul Fitr holidays

The Sindh government has announced a five-day holiday for Eid ul Fitr — one of the most anticipated Muslim festivals — in line with the federal government's notification last week.

Punjab has also announced a five-day holiday.

A notification issued by the Sindh government on Monday stated that it declared "public holidays on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr 2023 from 21 to 25 April (Friday to Tuesday) throughout the province of Sindh for all government offices, autonomous, semi-autonomous bodies, corporations and local councils under the administrative control of the government of Sindh, except the essential services".

When will Eid ul Fitr be?

The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee is set to meet on April 20 for the sighting of the Eid ul Fitr crescent moon, a statement from the religious affairs ministry said.

The meeting is set to be held at the religious affairs ministry in Islamabad and will be presided over by Ruet-e-Halal Committee Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, the statement said.

The statement further said the meetings of the zonal committees will be held at designated locations across the country.

Experts are of the view that the birth of the moon is expected to occur on Thursday, April 20, at 9:13am Pakistan time.

On the evening of the 29th of Ramazan, the moon's age at sunset should be more than 19 hours for sighting. However, in all areas of Pakistan, it will be less than 10 hours.

The difference between sunset and moonset, which should be more than 40 minutes, will only be 21 minutes in Peshawar, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Charsadda, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Quetta, and Jiwani, and 20 minutes in Lahore and Karachi.

Ramadan 2023 started on March 23 after much confusion during the meeting for the moonsighting.