IN almost every Urdu newspaper, mostly in their Sunday issues, I see a number of advertisements by so-called ‘aamils’ and ‘pirs’ claiming possession of several ‘uoolm’ to solve problems of human beings.

There is no doubt these so-called aamils are fake. If they are able to solve all problems of human beings, they would have first solved their own financial problems and wouldn’t resort to such advertisements.

I do not understand how such otherwise big and prestigious newspapers accept such advertisements for publication. They are not expected to be so financially weak that they are compelled to publish such advertisements for financial gains. Aren’t there moral and ethical standards for publication of advertisements?

Isn’t it the government’s responsibility to see that the public is not defrauded?

Mohammad Asif
Peshawar

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2019