‘An Invisible Minority’ by Komal JB Singh: Untold story of resilience of Kashmiri Sikhs

A profound exploration of collective memory, ‘An Invisible Minority’ puts the spotlight on the voices, struggles, and resilience of the Kashmiri Sikh community. A revised version of Komal JB Singh’s doctoral dissertation at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the book provides a firsthand account of the displacement, violence and trauma experienced by the community through interviews, and by accessing archival records as well as literature.

“At present, Sikhs are the largest minority living in Kashmir and are therefore crucial to any understanding of the region,” the author notes.

In popular discourse, Dogra ruler Gulab Singh is credited with establishing Jammu and Kashmir as an entity. However, it was Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Lahore kingdom, who truly laid its foundation. Through rigorous research, the author establishes a narrative of state-building under the Sikhs. However, there are contested views regarding the period.

Many historians have documented that nearly half of Kashmir’s population perished due to recurrent famines and inadequate healthcare facilities. The issue of oppressive taxation also crops up in several works on the rulers of the time — how local industries such as handicrafts and handlooms suffered, and artisans were forced into poverty and switched to other professions.

Despite their proactive role, Kashmiri Sikhs have remained largely underrepresented and insignificant in understanding Kashmir and its society. This book presents a new historiography of the conflict-ridden region by placing the Sikh community at the centre of history writing on the Valley.

The resilience of the Sikh community in the face of violence and persecution is evident from the fact that most Sikhs chose to remain in Kashmir even when Kashmiri Pandits left the Valley following the outbreak of armed insurgency in the late 1980s.

Amid the complex and contested identities of the region, this micro-minority has remained both neglected and invisible. Singh’s book attempts to restore the lost glory and identity of the community; it stands out as a groundbreaking ethnographic account of their experiences.

The author, quoting British travel historian Walter Lawrence, notes that “the Sikhs of Kashmir were not considered progressive and their socio-economic condition was also very weak”. Yet, Kashmiri cultural practices became intrinsic to the Sikh community and significantly influenced their lifestyle and identity.

In the chapter ‘The Partition of 1947 and the Sikhs of Kashmir’, she presents a chilling account of the horrors of Partition and the mass killings along religious lines. Through interviews with survivors and relatives of victims, Singh documents how the Kashmiri Sikhs, as a vulnerable minority, were persecuted and uprooted during the tribal invasions and the communal violence that followed the British withdrawal from India. The author carefully details that despite targeted killings and marginalisation, the Sikhs of Kashmir have remained fearless and resilient.

As minority identities come under assault in India, this book becomes crucial for understanding how marginalisation and persecution endanger the survival of nation-states, and why protecting minorities is essential for building a truly democratic and powerful nation.

— The reviewer teaches at Government Degree College, Beerwah, J&K