Pash (9 September 1950 – 23 March 1988) was the pen name of Avtar Singh Sandhu,^[1] one of the major poets in the Punjabi literature of the 1970s. He was killed by extremists on 23 March 1988.^[2] His strongly left-wing views were reflected in his poetry.

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Quick Facts Avtar Singh Sandhu, Personal details ...

Avtar Singh Sandhu
Personal details
Born	(1950-09-09)9 September 1950 Talwandi Salem, Jalandhar, Punjab
Died	23 March 1988(1988-03-23) (aged 37) Talwandi Salem , Jalandhar, Punjab
Manner of death	Assassination
Citizenship	India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Poet

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Pash was born as Avtar Singh Sandhu in 1950 in a small village called Talwandi Salem in Jalandhar district of Punjab, in a middle-class farmers family. His father Sohan Singh Sandhu was a soldier in the Indian army who also composed poetry as a hobby. Pash grew up in the midst of the Naxalite movement, a revolutionary movement waged in Punjab against the landlords, industrialists, traders, etc. who control the means of production. This was in the midst of the Green revolution which had addressed India's problem of famine using high yield crops, but had also unconsciously led to other forms of inequities in Punjab.^[3]

In 1970, he published his first book of revolutionary poems, Loh-Katha (Iron Tale), at the age of 18. His militant and provocative tone raised the ire of the establishment and a murder charge was soon brought against him. He spent nearly two years in jail, before being finally acquitted.

On acquittal, the 22-year-old became involved in Punjab's Maoist front, editing a literary magazine, Siarh (The Plow Line) and in 1973 Pash founded 'Punjabi Sahit Te Sabhiachar Manch' (Punjabi Literature and Culture Forum). He became a popular political figure on the Left during this period and was awarded a fellowship at the Punjabi Academy of Letters in 1985. He ran to the United Kingdom and the United States the following year; while in the U.S., he became involved with the Anti-47 Front, opposing Sikh nationalist violence. His words had a great influence on the minds of the people.

At the beginning of 1988 Pash was in Punjab for the renewal of his visa from the United States.^[4] A day before leaving for Delhi, however, he was gunned down by three men along with his friend Hans Raj at the well in his village Talwandi Salem on 23 March 1988.^[5] Pash was assassinated by the militants for being a vocal critic of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.^[6]

• Loh-katha (Iron-Tale) (1970),
• Uddade Bazan Magar (Following The Flying Hawks) (1973),
• Saadey Samiyaan Vich (In Our Times) (1978), and
• Khilre Hoye Varkey (Scattered pages) (1989)

Khilre Hoey Varkey was posthumously published in 1989 after his death, followed by his journals and letters. A selection of his poems in Punjabi, Inkar, was published in Lahore in 1997. His poems have been translated in many languages including other Indian languages, Nepali and English. Poems written by Pash are popular in India, especially in Punjab and North India. Recitations of his poems are often carried out, especially on the weekends close to his death anniversary.