Remembering iconic works of Pash, Harbhajan Singh

Celebrating the literary excellence of Avtar Singh Pash (1950-1988), the eminent and revolutionary Punjabi poet, the Language Department, Punjab, has announced that its in-house literary magazine ‘Jan Sahit’ will carry a commemorative edition in this regard by the end of the year.

Director, Language Department, Jaswant Singh Jafar said that the special edition would publish and present contemporary analysis of Pash’s most celebrated works and has also invited scholars, researchers and writers of Punjabi language across the state to contribute their ideas for the edition.

Another initiative in this commemorative exercise by the department will be of publishing a special edition of its another in-house literary magazine ‘Punjabi Duniya’, dedicated to another great Punjabi poet and thinker Dr Harbhajan Singh.

While the department says that these issues will be for the purpose of promoting Punjabi literature, culture and art, the announcement comes as an opportunity for the new generation of Punjabi writers and readers to contribute in Punjabi language and literature.

Research officer (District Language Office, Amritsar) Inderjit Singh said that the department was publishing the special commemorative editions of ‘Jan Sahit’ and ‘Punjabi Duniya’ for the October to December 2025 edition. “Therefore, all writers/authors are informed that they should make an effort to send quality works/research papers for these magazines being published by the department. We have also shared our addresses in social media as well as of our district office for contributors to send their works.”

Widely regarded as most influential modern poets of Punjabi language, Avtar Singh, who wrote under the pen name Pash, wrote extensively on the social injustices, inequality and communalism. His works ‘Loh Katha’, ‘Sadde Samian Vich’ and others are considered as powerful literary works of resistance. Pash was assassinated by militants during the blackest period of Punjab for his open and vocal criticism of religious fundamentalist. The reason Pash’s works remain relevant through times is that they talk about core human and societal issues.

Dr Harbhajan Singh, unlike Pash’s sharp and radical tone, used philosophical metaphors in his poetry to raise these concerns.

The Language Department’s efforts to retrieve the memories of these highly regarded and influential literary figures of Punjabi language and literature might just be able to revive the larger interest of the younger generation of readers and writers, introducing them to the legacy of these towering literary figures.