Poetry of India 14/100: Amrita Pritam’s “Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu” and the Wound of Partition
Part 14 of The Poetry Pulse’s 100-part journey through India’s poetic heritage.Amrita Pritam’s Punjabi poem “Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu” is one of the most powerful literary responses to the violence and displacement of the 1947 Partition. The speaker addresses the eighteenth-century Punjabi poet Waris Shah, associated with the tragic love story of Heer and Ranjha, and asks him to rise and witness…
