This is a pure Punjabi word whose meaning is confusion and an insoluble puzzle or a situation which is difficult — indeed impossible — to understand. There are many eras in which new bhanbhal-bhosas, new crises appear which are not easy to solve. Even Baba Bulleh Shah (1680–1757 CE) faced bhanbhal-bhosa. Was it an identity crisis or cultural, a religious problem or sectarian affair, a caste fight or claims of communal superiority? This same confusion and bewilderment is expressed in “Keh Jaanan Main Kaun?” (What do I know who I am?). Three centuries later Jhalle Shah also faces the same questions about politics, society, international relations, freedom of expression, the constitution, democracy and the system — the same “keh jaanan,” the same bhanbhal-bhosa, the same bewilderment: “What do I know??”

Is this a hybrid system or a democracy, what do I know. Am I truthful or false what do I know, is Jhalle Shah’s political compass correct or wrong, what do I know. Are the country’s policies headed in the right direction or the opposite, what do I know. Is keeping borders hot with both India and Afghanistan a model of bravery or somewhere a flaw in strategy, what do I know. Is the Constitution being implemented or is it somewhere placed on a shelf, what do I know? Is the judiciary fully independent or under someone’s beak, what do I know. Is freedom of expression available or is the voice an echo in the desert, what do I know. Are we moving toward darkness or are we blinking our eyes at the light, what do I know? Is our friendship with President Trump temporary and fleeting or permanent, what do I know??

What do I know: is the international system of democracy, freedom and human rights under earthquake — what do I know. Jhalle Shah used to heap praise on the blessings of the democratic system, kept chanting slogans for human rights, believed in the supremacy of Parliament, enchanted people with the virtues of freedom of expression. He was a believer in plurality and opposed to any dominance and monopoly. What do I know that all those dreams are scattering. What do I know that it was all a mirage, what do I know that what was read, written, thought is all disappearing. Such a big bewilderment? So much bhanbhal-bhosa or great confusion. Indeed an identity crisis, political theory of democratic values, supremacy of the constitution, independence of judiciary, importance of freedom of expression and the usefulness of a free-market economy — everything is getting blurred. Jhalle Shah hesitates to say this, what do I know who I am? Will a prisoner in jail be released by miracle or remain locked inside? Is this prisoner — according to the spiritual woman’s prophecy — waiting for some revolution; will the hope for such a revolution arise or is there no possibility? Will the army and the government continue as well as they are today or tomorrow will a one-page tear happen? Shahbaz Sharif, moving with his head bowed despite having no space, will that have any political benefit or will what he has also be lost? Will Nawaz Sharif leave a peaceful life and return to the political frenzy or not? Will Shahbaz Sharif’s closeness to the establishment and increased liking for it, for now, prevent Maryam Nawaz Sharif from becoming the candidate for the prime minister in the next term or not. What do I know?

Will Asif Zardari sit in the background and just watch the PML-N uncle-niece vehicle ride by, or will he play some masterstroke to try to make Bilawal again the favorite of power? The promises that the country’s economic fate would be changed with those 100 billion dollars — when will they arrive or has both hope and desire for them now ended? Will America’s friendship and closeness with the Pakistani army and government remain only flourish and show, or will institutional effectiveness also come from it? Will America only pat us or will it also send shipments of dollars? The defense agreement with Saudi Arabia is very important but will Pakistan also receive its economic benefits from it? Pakistan’s leverage and standing in the Gulf has increased — will this result in Iran and Gulf states, and India being pushed out of their respective countries, or will our chest-beating remain limited to meetings only? What do I know…

Bulleh Shah struggled with the big, big questions of society and religion. Jhalle Shah is lost in the small small questions of society. Salaried people pay the most tax while traders and industrialists pay far less compared to them — why is that? Landlords and farmers are continuously oppressed: wheat and rice are bought cheaply and the landlord is given fertilizers and medicines at expensive rates; the farmer’s sugarcane is bought cheaply and paid for only later while sugar mill owners export sugar and make profit — this happens every year, will it always be like this? Despite all claims agriculture could not be established on modern lines; the same four crops are grown which have been planted for centuries. Tractors, threshers and tube wells have indeed arrived but neither has any solution been found for wasting water nor has agriculture been modernized by experimenting with new crops. The irony is that it has been more than two decades since the Ministry of Agriculture was formed — can its Department of Industry and Trade compete with OPTMA or the Sugar Mill Association which are such excellent research organizations? Absolutely not. Will the country’s farmer continue to die this way? Was the poor of Bulleh Shah’s time and the poor of Jhalle Shah’s time never able to change their fate? Will this centuries-old grind, this years-long bafflement, this generational bewilderment, this national puzzle ever be solved? What do I know……

The new bhanbhal-bhosa is about making Pakistan a part of a peace force in Gaza — what do I know whether Muslims’ peace force will protect the Palestinians against Israel or will it stop Hamas and the Palestinians from attacking Israel? Bulleh Shah asked: I do not understand whether I am an unbeliever or a Muslim? Am I pure or impure? If the peace force supports the Palestinians then America and Israel will call it biased; if it becomes an obstacle in Hamas’s path then it will be branded an unbeliever. What do I know which decision will be better? Jhalle Shah, how will he decide — Bulleh Shah was distressed so how much more distressed will Jhalle Shah be?

Bulleh Shah was exiled from the city for saying “kufr” (unbelief), a “Sayyid” was mocked for becoming a devotee of a barber, and to the extent that Bulleh Shah’s funeral was not even led by the clerics of Kasur — that honor went to the khwaja sira (transgender) community. Jhalle Shah is timorous and fearful yet still blamed; insults, abuses and curses come his way but this complacent Jhalle Shah will escape being a moral martyr — he is very opportunistic and will find a way out; yet his bhanbhal-bhosas, confusions and puzzles will not be solved. Everything will end and yet the bhanbhal-bhosas will remain.