The soil of turmoil, the soil of hope: Paash, Protest Poetry, and Punjab in Post-Partition India

Paash is one of the most celebrated poets within the progressive and revolutionary circles of South Asia, yet there is a lack of serious scholarship around his work and life. The previous scholarship on Paash either studied some of his works in isolation or studied him as part of the Jujharvad Movement. In this paper, by indulging in an ethnographic reading of Paash's poetry, we try to locate Paash – the person in post-partition Punjab – to provide a more comprehensive and detailed reading of his works and ideas. Engaging with his poems, the paper charts his poetical and political response to the major socio-political events that occurred in his short life span: the Green Revolution, the Naxalite Movement, the Emergency, and the Khalistan Movement.