THIS is apropos the article ‘The oracle bug’ (Jan 13). Nobody should interfere in the personal life of other people even if he happens to be a popular political leader who aspires to be the prime minister.

It is certainly his personal choice who he wants to marry. If the person he is willing to marry accepts his proposal, nobody else has any business to raise objection or even comment on it.

But one can’t help wondering why a highly-enlightened and Oxford-educated cricket hero Imran Khan, who has great achievements like winning the World Cup and building a state-of-the-art cancer hospital by collecting billions of rupees, needs a soothsayer as his wife.

As pointed out by the writer, unfortunately, belief in pirs and their spiritual guidance has been a trait of a number of our national leaders. From Ayub Khan and Ziaul Haq to Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari, all were and are superstitious. Our great Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf were the only exceptions in this regard.

Making Imran’s marriage a national issue is not desirable when we have so many other issues and problems to deal with.

But Imran should not be angry if people discuss his personal life. After all, he is a great leader and is expected by his admirers and supporters to set up examples for them to follow. When you are a leader you have to show an exemplary behaviour and attitude in life.

Z. Ahmed

Islamabad

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THIS is apropos the article ‘The oracle bug’ (Jan 13). The writer has tried to debug society of oracle bugs like Dewana Baba, Pir Ejaz and laptop Bushra. Piri faqeeri thrives because both leaders and the led are in search of a magic wand to solve their mundane problems.

In Egypt, Aristotle found a plate with Zodiac carved in gold. He could not make head or tail of it, and sent it to Alexander far afield. He too was skeptical. Alexander, however, continued to roam naked around Ulysses to attract good fortune in his battles.

He also drew solace from Aristotle-annotated Iliad hidden in his pillow. Spartacus believed in oracles. But, he too took Oracle of Delphi with a pinch of salt.

Bertram Forer proved that Zodiac and other psychic interpretations are vague. Better read Edward de Bono, psychologists Barry Beyerstein, Dickson and Kelly, Myers-Briggs to avoid being deceived by fraudsters on streets and TV channels. Mathematician Wilhelm Leibnitz deciphered I Ching (book of changes) into 64 predictions. Psychologist Carl Jung however believed in it.

US had outlawed such voodoos. Yet, countless people, including psychologists, lawyers, and writers (Jude Devreux) fell prey to fortune tellers and psychics. In the US, a psychic was sentenced to 10 years and one month (though prosecution sought 27 years’ sentence).

Will someone sue the media on this score?

Mohammad Sa’ad

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2018