Quote by Agha Shahid Ali: “I am a man of this century, a refugee.”

This statement reveals a profound sense of displacement and personal connection to the struggles of his era. It speaks to the identity of one who carries the burden of forced migration and historical upheaval.

Written during a period of intense conflict in Kashmir (1990s), Ali's poetry often explored themes of exile, memory, and the political struggles of his homeland, linking personal grief to national tragedy.

Kashmiri-American poet, born in New Delhi in 1949 and raised in Kashmir, whose ghazals in English brought the classical Urdu form to American poetry. His collection The Country Without a Post Office lamented the violence in Kashmir with devastating lyricism, and he taught at many American universities before his death in 2001.