Afzal Ahsan Randhawa (1937-2017) was an eminent Pakistani Punjabi poet and novelist, a towering figure in modern Punjabi literature. Born in Amritsar, he considered himself a sehajdhari Sikh, and sought to promote Punjab’s cultural heritage (one he was born into and molded by, + 
and continued to cherish) through his work.
He chose to write in Punjabi at a time when the language was deemed ‘coarse’ & ‘seditious’ in Pakistan’s literary circles. His works & interviews reveal a worldview shot through with the layered idioms and archetypes of Punjabi society.
He chose to write in Punjabi at a time when the language was deemed ‘coarse’ & ‘seditious’ in Pakistan’s literary circles. His works & interviews reveal a worldview shot through with the layered idioms and archetypes of Punjabi society.
He brought to life that world of heroes and rebels, vengeance and honor, rural customs and domestic intrigues, clans and kinship networks: a literary cosmos at once laconic and poetic, brutal and poignant, operating in the interpenetrating folk and epic temporalities +
that inform all great Punjabi literature.
When Dr Harpal Singh Pannu (Professor of Sikh Studies, Central University of Punjab) met Afzal Ahsan Randhawa during the latter’s visit to India, he asked him why is that all his story characters are Sikhs, and glorious Sikhs at that.
When Dr Harpal Singh Pannu (Professor of Sikh Studies, Central University of Punjab) met Afzal Ahsan Randhawa during the latter’s visit to India, he asked him why is that all his story characters are Sikhs, and glorious Sikhs at that.
He replied: “I am a Sikh myself. In the Janamsakhis there is a Sikh called Ajita Randhawa who is so devoted to the Guru that he offered his murabbas which he owned on the both sides of the Ravi and where the Guru found Kartarpur and passed away, which became Dehra Baba Nanak.”
That Ajita, Randhawa said, was his own greatgrandfather. Half of the family became Sikhs (and Singhs with time) and half stayed Muslim (syncreticly so). He also venerated the hallowed Baba Buddha, who was also a Randhawa Jatt and related to Baba Ajita Randhawa.
Read a translation of one of Afzal Ahsan Randhawa's short stories "Zoravar" by @akali_berserker, with the translator's extensive commentary on the @KhalsaChronicle Substack page: khalsachronicle.substack.com/p/zoravar
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