Born in Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan) Avtar Singh migrated to Jalandhar city after witnessing the horrific massacres of the partition of India in 1947 at the tender age of nine which left a lasting impact on his mind. He was educated in Urdu medium up to fourth standard during his schooling till partition. No surprise his thoughts, emotions, feelings, expressions bloom in him in Urdu language till date, the medium in which he pens his poems. A scholar in his own right, M.A. in literature, Avtar Singh is a philosopher par excellence with very critical, analytical and unbiased independent mind. He is a prolific and imaginatively creative poet and composes ghazals and poems that predominantly include subjects like human behaviour, love, romance, passion, liberty, oneness of humanity, reverence of life, glimpses of which are cited below:
Khuda ne banai thee ek hi nasle insaan
Insaan ne taqseem kar diya insaan se insaan
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Abhi aur qatal karo ge kitne dushman samajh kar jin ko
Pehle jo qatal kar chuke ho dafan to kar lo un ko
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His poems reflect deep emotions of anger and despair which a person confronts and lives with:
Khush hota hai har koi vasal mein mil kar
Thoda saa gham bacha ke rakh le hijr ke liye
Do aansoo na bahaey jis ne tarke mohabbat ke waqt
Jaane kyoon ro raha hai dil us pathar ke liye
