The federal government on Sunday announced two holidays for Eidul Fitr, according to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division.
In its notification, the Cabinet Division said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had declared Friday, March 20, and Saturday, March 21, as public holidays for Eidul Fitr, adding these applied to offices observing both five- and six-day working weeks.
While the final decision for when Eidul Fitr occurs will be announced by the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) has issued a statement claiming the new moon is unlikely to be visible to the naked eye on March 19. This suggests Eid would fall on March 21, with the country observing a 30-day Ramzan.
In addition to the official Eid holidays, the government has announced that Pakistan Railways would operate four special trains to facilitate passengers traveling to their hometowns across the country ahead of Eid. The first of these trains would depart from Lahore to Karachi on March 16, while the second train would leave Quetta for Rawalpindi on March 17.
The third special train would operate from Karachi to Peshawar on March 17, while the four would run from Karachi to Lahore on March 18.