Suhail Warraich
When an earthquake is about to happen, the insects of the earth can sense it in advance. The ants start running here and there in fear and anxiety, but the pigeon closes its eyes when it sees the cat coming. It was about to happen, it was happening, the bell has rung. The loud sound of the whistle is giving a clear signal to everyone to line up. Now the time for gossip has passed, here or there? Preparations were being made for this to happen for a long time. Be careful, be careful, be ready. I made a scholarly attempt to find out the events that were coming by writing in the early days of June. Now the events that happened one after the other have gained momentum, the shortcomings that were glaring from the sun in terms of the political government to the economy and political narrative were bound to have some result. The two big allies of the Kath government, Noon and Pepli, were walking together by making promises and feasts, but neither of them was prepared for the earthquake, nor are they now. The wooden pot is lying at the crossroads and stones are falling on it. The story is the same old one, about the closeness of iron and Persia. The metaphor of iron and Persia has been used in the ancient Hindi and Urdu Sufi tradition of the subcontinent. It is based on the conceptual idea of the stone “Paras” that iron turns into gold when touched by Persia. There is no such proven stone in science, but the story of iron and Persia has been presented as an example in the mythological and literary world. We try to learn from this story to read the situation and draw a conclusion.
The ancient alchemists believed that the animal had been transformed into a stone. This imaginary red stone, made of sulfur and mercury, could turn iron into gold. This myth was so popular that King Henry VI of England set up a commission in 1455 to convert iron into gold to pay off the royal debt. The commission apparently failed, but the idea is still popular in the East and West. Ascetics still search for this stone to make themselves rich overnight. In literary and Sufi tradition, the Persian is a metaphor for power, authority, and wealth, while iron is a symbol of the common or the crude. Iron is a metaphor for the common people, but when they are touched by the Persian, they turn into gold and join the elite. Under normal circumstances, no one cares which iron has acquired the special qualities from which Persian, but under extraordinary circumstances, milk becomes milk and water becomes water. If the Great Doomsday comes, the mother will not be able to take care of the child. If the political doomsday has come, the ranks have been broken, the limit is that even the federal cabinet is not of one voice.
Some of the irons have fled to the side of Pars, while the party and real position of the “irons of irons” is still unknown to anyone. The irons have been ruling Sindh for the past 17 years, they liked Pars so much that they started considering themselves Pars, but iron is iron and Pars is Pars. If the need and priority change, it does not take long for Pars to change its iron, it always has all kinds of iron available to it. The seat of power and strength is Pars, which softens the biggest and hardest iron and then a time comes when the rock-breaking iron of the past, itself crumbles. The irons of the past are now standing at a crossroads, on one side is the elegance and brilliance of Pars and on the other side is the sacrifice of ideology and politics. If you stick to Pars, the shine and glory will remain, but the soil of politics will be removed from under your feet forever. And if the fallen iron leaves Pars, holding the soil of politics, then it is feared that Pars will have to go through a river of fire and blood again, and this path is the most difficult. Now is the time to decide, the trumpet has sounded, now the reconciliation of the iron does not seem to be working. On the other hand, the Pradhan of Noni Iron has embraced Pars for two decades. The matter is not limited to the kisses and affection of Pars, now he has made it the center of devotion. Pars and Noni Iron, more than a one-page story, have become part of the syllabus. Pars loves Noni Iron and Noni Iron loves Pars so much that it is difficult to separate them, but the Pradhan is surprised at the whistle and must be worried about those irons who are already stretching their necks to get their names written in their desire to break his ranks and be with Pars. Noni, the “iron of iron” and the Iron Man, has kept a fast of silence as always, it remains to be seen whether he will keep his mouth shut on the division of the province or speak out. Noni Pradhan is ready to do anything for the sake of Pars, including the division of the province, because he believes that only the union of iron and Pars can turn the holy land into gold.
It is difficult to fully understand this story of iron and Paras sitting in jail without the iron of justice. Whatever the reason, the pot of wood is breaking out at the crossroads, so the importance of iron sitting in jail has doubled. On the one hand, iron is getting spiritual signals while sitting in jail that it is no longer iron but has become a slag, while Barrister Gohar and his colleagues are giving this logical and practical argument that iron is useless without touching Paras, it is just an ordinary metal. Or if Paras had touched it in 2018, he would have got power. There is still a need to open the way. The official parrot will be eager to tell him the news of conquering Larkana along with Sohail Afridi’s Lao army. The fish of justice is hungry and on the other hand, the bait of release and facilities is ready to hunt him.
The misfortune of the government’s allies is that while their fight among themselves is leading them to decline, on the other hand, the decisive power has gone into the hands of their eternal rival. This is how decline begins. On the other hand, the iron of justice also has to decide that it should not be undermined by the positive names of expediency and reconciliation and that its sacrifices and movement in prison should not be wasted. On the other hand, the iron of Pars looks like shining gold, but no matter what they do, they cannot become Pars themselves. Iron remains iron, the shine is temporary, the shadow of power and authority is not permanent but temporary. When Pars is present, it seems easy to make every impossible possible. Whether to obey one’s will or to bend the iron, the left hand’s play is felt, what has not happened in history and what will not happen. Iron is remembered only who has considered the public interest and public will. Many Persians forcibly built towers of corpses, many introduced new systems, many divided one another, but the eternal lesson of history is that only those who connect things and regions, provide convenience to people, and provide peace and abundant food are remembered in golden words.
