What is being called a cockroach in the politics of the entire world and India, is called laal baig in Urdu and Punjabi, whereas the Punjabi name for the ant is “keeri”. Ever since cockroach politics started, in Pakistan too, people are being frightened by the fear of a youth rebellion or the initiation of cockroach politics. Laal baig or cockroach and the ant are both six-legged insects of the earth; the cockroach remains hidden in nooks and crannies, it knows the art of its survival. The laal baig is an opportunist and believes in individualism, whereas the ant is hard-working, bound by discipline, lives in the form of a family, and like a family, ants have divided their respective tasks. The laal baig, except for its own self and survival, neither has thought for anyone nor cares. If a laal baig faces danger, it immediately hides to save its life; it does not worry about what will happen to the remaining laal baigs. If an ant faces danger, it immediately sends signals to fellow ants, feeds and manages the family. The laal baig is an embodiment of ego and a symbol of self-interest; the ant is a selfless creature, there is no bug in the ant’s brain.

If there are cockroaches in the Indus Valley (or Hind Valley), there is an ant in the Indus Valley. Young people rebel there, old people fight defensive wars here. The hero of Hind has been the young laal baig, while the heroes of the Indus Valley have been mature-aged ants. In the ancient history of this region, the greatest heroes and path-showers have been the old ones. The first historical hero of the Indus Valley and Punjab was Porus; six and a half feet tall Porus was old compared to the young Alexander the Greek, but he etched such a history of resistance that Alexander the Greek could not remain unimpressed either. Ahmad Khan Kharal was old, he was killed at the hands of young Berkeley, but the hero of epic tales today is still Ahmad Khan Kharal, not Berkeley. Nehru was young, Jinnah was old; Jinnah showed it by making Pakistan, while the young man kept watching. In comparison to General Ayub, Zia, and General Musharraf, Nawabzada and his allies were old, but they joined together like ants and showed by defeating the dictators. Laal baigs fight individually, ants fight collectively. If a laal baig dies, there is no one to take its place; if one ant dies, another takes its place. Hind might be at risk from cockroaches; the defense line of the Indus Valley or today’s Pakistan is the ants—the very ants about whom it is thought: what is the big deal in crushing them? But history is witness that if these very ants get together, they eat even the most poisonous snake raw.

Politics has always been a game of snakes and ladders; apparently at this time power holds sway, where is there any room for politics? For a few years, the condition of politics has been very bad; if recent days’ politics is called zero, it will correctly reflect the circumstances. But this is only one side of reality: apparently politics zero, resistance zero, rebellion zero, struggle zero, human rights battle zero, judicial intervention zero, moral aid from abroad zero. As if, far and wide, there appears no possibility of sweet water emerging from any democratic or political spring. But there is another side to reality as well; history tells that when despair increases and one crop of ants is crushed, an alternative crop of ants gets ready to take their place. Ayub Khan scared and silenced Suhrawardy, Firoz Khan Noon, Khuhro, and all big people with the sword of PRODA, but then Bhutto stood up and Ayub Khan had to depart. Everyone considers ants despicable, but this despicable creature is capable of bringing down elephants. Lessons of past history will remain the same; whoever understands them, these lessons are for them alone, otherwise belief in the lesson of history comes only when someone oneself gets caught in the swirl.

No matter how modern and scientific the world becomes, magic works on both sides—here and there; whether it is Hind or Sindh, Bengal or Morocco and Portugal, the talisman is present everywhere. Cockroach Janata Party named the demonstration “Jantar Mantar”; if the ants formed their party in the name of People’s Muslim Insaf, then it will no longer be magic, but the era of crowd psychology that will prevail. Then work will not stop at the minister resigning due to the power of magic; whoever comes in the way of the crowd will be swept away by the flood and storm. The ant is not in a hurry like the cockroach; laal baigs are restless all the time, poking their mouths here and there, trying to make a way for themselves here, and searching for a path to make a shelter there too. Ants first track the paths, and when the way is found, they walk in single file on that straight path to achieve their target. Whether the comparison of the ant is with an eagle or a vulture, in both cases, the final victory belongs to the ant.

The country’s politics has started to stretch its limbs; from the story of the system being destroyed to every day, something or the other is happening such that the government is shrinking. The temporary relief that the government got from victory in the Pak-India war, friendship with America, and role in the Middle East has bitten the dust. Poor Nooni ants are hidden in their burrows; they do not have answers to the buzzing questions of flies. They do not understand whether their lamp is going out or if this flickering flame will keep giving light for a while longer. Peepli ants are sad that they face a new struggle again; some red ants think that power has eaten their party, while black ants want power to remain because now they have neither the energy nor the courage to get beaten up again. Opinion is certainly divided, but Peepli ants are confident that the time for decision has arrived. Insafi ants are thinking that their difficult days are about to end; they are thinking that now for them on the political Ludo, the season of snakebites will fade away and ladders will be provided for convenience. The Queen Mother ant of power is aware of the whole environment, and the King ant seems ready to act upon his agenda; he must be aware that in this process blood will also flow, power’s friends will also change—some friends will become enemies, and some enemies will become friends. The Queen Mother knows that this year and then the next year are the years of reforms; if expediency is used in these too, then the golden era of the Queen Mother will pass, and then the desire for reform or change will never be fulfilled.

The speed of circumstances has taken politics into its hold; decisive stages are about to come. The greater probability is that the powerful Queen Mother will get the ants to agree to her will. Even if the Peepli ant comes out of power’s nest, many Insafi ants are sitting ready to take their place. The danger and fear is that if the Nooni and Peepli duo of power breaks, everything might slip away from hand. Whatever agreement takes place between the arrested ant and the Queen Mother, whatever guarantor intervenes, this vine is not going to climb the trellis.