Written in the aftermath of the 1970 elections in Pakistan, these stanzas are filled with rich references, metaphors and idioms to describe the post election acrimony and rancor. Losers and winners are disgracing each other as accusations fly. ‘Aatish e Namrud’, a Quranic reference to prophet Ibrahim (AS), is used to describe the fury and fire of allegations, yet there is no leader or savior, like Ibrahim (AS) with the passion, commitment and strength to turn this fire into a bed of flowers, of peace and harmony. Those who claim to be chaste and pious or those known to be rogue free-thinkers and those well recognized as charlatans are behaving alike, confirming their deficient upbringing. All normal business has seized, the potter’s donkey is roaming free while the potter is incarcerated (Urdu idiom for a situation gone awry), ‘Ishtihari’, a colloquial term to describe wanted criminals, are at liberty while those with real authority are jailed. The last three lines with metaphors of cuckoos and crows have layered meanings. Cuckoos implying betrayal and infidelity, the crows circling vengefully over their enemy, conjuring images of scavengers over the carcass of democracy.
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