The plight of Kash­miri Sikhs has largely been over­looked over the past cen­tury. The in­sur­gency in Kash­mir led to wide­spread mi­gra­tion of Kash­miri Sikhs to Jammu and other parts of In­dia. Re­gard­less of their po­lit­i­cal be­liefs, caught be­tween the in­sur­gents and the gov­ern­ment of In­dia, they were forced to dis­lo­cate and be­come pari­ahs in the land they had once called home.  Shah Daniya, a young Kash­miri re­search scholar at St. Joseph’s Uni­ver­sity in Ben­galuru, high­lights the in­jus­tices faced by Kash­miri Sikhs, par­tic­u­larly their ex­clu­sion from wel­fare mea­sures avail­able to other dis­placed in­di­vid­u­als both within and out­side Kash­mir. She is­sues a strong ap­peal for course cor­rec­tion.

Jammu and Kash­mir (J&K) has long been a ta­pes­try wo­ven with threads of di­verse eth­nic, re­li­gious, and cul­tural iden­ti­ties, each con­tribut­ing to the re­gion’s rich, multi-lay­ered her­itage. Yet, decades of po­lit­i­cal up­heaval, strife, and in­sur­gency have re­lent­lessly eroded this har­mony, giv­ing rise to waves of dis­place­ment that have ir­rev­o­ca­bly re­shaped the re­gion’s de­mo­graphic land­scape. While much of the fo­cus has been cast upon the mass ex­o­dus of var­i­ous com­mu­ni­ties from Kash­mir, the pro­found strug­gles faced by Kash­miri Sikhs re­main con­spic­u­ously ab­sent from main­stream dis­course and po­lit­i­cal di­a­logue. Their forced dis­place­ment, the ob­sta­cles they en­coun­tered dur­ing re­set­tle­ment, and, per­haps most strik­ingly, their glar­ing ex­clu­sion from reser­va­tion poli­cies and spe­cial pro­vi­sions ben­e­fits granted to other dis­placed groups de­mand a more nu­anced and thor­ough in­ves­ti­ga­tion.

Be­fore the vi­o­lent up­heaval of the late 1980s, Kash­miri Sikhs were an in­sep­a­ra­ble thread in the re­gion’s vi­brant so­cial ta­pes­try. With roots deeply em­bed­ded in the Val­ley, they played an ac­tive role in com­merce, agri­cul­ture, and crafts­man­ship, en­rich­ing the cul­tural can­vas of Kash­mir. Their pres­ence in the re­gion spanned cen­turies, main­tain­ing a dis­tinc­tive Sikh iden­tity while seam­lessly in­te­grat­ing into the Val­ley’s multi-eth­nic fab­ric. Yet, with the flareup of mil­i­tancy, the com­mu­nity found it­self en­snared in the grow­ing web of vi­o­lence and po­lit­i­cal un­rest. As hos­til­i­ties es­ca­lated, Sikhs be­came fre­quent tar­gets of vi­o­lence, forc­ing many to aban­don their homes, seek­ing refuge from the storm of fear and un­cer­tainty that had en­gulfed the land.

De­spite their long­stand­ing pres­ence in the re­gion, the story of the dis­place­ment of Kash­miri Sikhs has largely been rel­e­gated to the mar­gins of pub­lic and aca­d­e­mic dis­cus­sion.

De­spite their long­stand­ing pres­ence in the re­gion, the story of the dis­place­ment of Kash­miri Sikhs has largely been rel­e­gated to the mar­gins of pub­lic and aca­d­e­mic dis­cus­sion. Their plight, es­pe­cially dur­ing the early years of the in­sur­gency, is sel­dom spo­ken about, even as other dis­placed groups re­ceive at­ten­tion. This in­vis­i­bil­ity in dis­course has com­pounded the dif­fi­cul­ties faced by the dis­placed Sikh com­mu­nity, who have had to re­build their lives in new en­vi­ron­ments with­out much in­sti­tu­tional sup­port or recog­ni­tion.

The forced mi­gra­tion of Kash­miri Sikhs un­furled in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the shadow of mil­i­tancy cast a grow­ing dark­ness over the Kash­mir Val­ley. Caught in the quag­mire of the cry for se­ces­sion and the In­dian state’s se­cu­rity per­son­nel, count­less Sikh fam­i­lies found them­selves trapped in an ag­o­niz­ing limbo. They were sub­jected to a bru­tal con­flu­ence of vi­o­lence, threats, and eco­nomic des­o­la­tion, as their peace­ful ex­is­tence was shat­tered. In a des­per­ate bid for sur­vival and refuge, thou­sands of Kash­miri Sikhs sought sanc­tu­ary be­yond the Val­ley’s bor­ders, re­lo­cat­ing to Jammu, Delhi, and other parts of In­dia. Yet, their ex­o­dus, un­like that of other dis­placed com­mu­ni­ties, re­mained largely in­vis­i­ble in the larger nar­ra­tive of Kash­mir’s tu­mul­tuous his­tory. Over time, the pain and plight of the Sikhs faded from pub­lic mem­ory, be­com­ing lit­tle more than a ne­glected foot­note in the greater tale of the re­gion’s on­go­ing con­flict.

The dis­placed Kash­miri Sikhs, like other mi­grants, strug­gled with se­cur­ing shel­ter, em­ploy­ment, and ba­sic sus­te­nance. How­ever, un­like other com­mu­ni­ties, they were left to nav­i­gate their hard­ships with­out sig­nif­i­cant in­sti­tu­tional sup­port or re­set­tle­ment pro­grams, forc­ing them to re­build their lives from the ground up while car­ry­ing the trauma of aban­don­ing their an­ces­tral homes and busi­nesses.

A stark in­jus­tice in the dis­place­ment of Kash­miri Sikhs is their glar­ing ex­clu­sion from the reser­va­tion ben­e­fits granted to other dis­placed com­mu­ni­ties. In Jammu and Kash­mir, those up­rooted by mil­i­tancy, in­clud­ing peo­ple from Jammu, have been af­forded spe­cial pro­vi­sions rang­ing from reser­va­tions in gov­ern­ment jobs and ed­u­ca­tional in­sti­tu­tions to ac­cess to var­i­ous gov­ern­ment schemes de­signed to aid their re­ha­bil­i­ta­tion. These mea­sures are in­tended to help rein­te­grate those who have suf­fered the trauma of dis­place­ment.

Yet, de­spite en­dur­ing sim­i­lar hard­ships, Kash­miri Sikhs have been de­nied these priv­i­leges. While other dis­placed groups, such as refugees from Pak­istan-ad­min­is­tered Kash­mir and Hindu mi­grants, have re­ceived sub­stan­tial gov­ern­ment sup­port, the Kash­miri Sikh com­mu­nity has been sys­tem­at­i­cally ex­cluded from such pro­grams. This in­equity has deep­ened their mar­gin­al­iza­tion, in­ten­si­fy­ing the so­cio-eco­nomic chal­lenges they face and leav­ing them with­out the tools to re­build their lives on equal foot­ing.

For many years, Kash­miri Sikhs have raised con­cerns over their ex­clu­sion from reser­va­tion ben­e­fits, but these con­cerns have largely fallen on deaf ears. Kash­miri Sikhs have had lim­ited po­lit­i­cal rep­re­sen­ta­tion and have not had a strong voice in push­ing for the rights they de­serve. This lack of po­lit­i­cal power has made it dif­fi­cult for the com­mu­nity to ad­vo­cate for their right­ful claims to reser­va­tions and other forms of state as­sis­tance.

Most of the dis­placed Sikh fam­i­lies, who were once landown­ers or small busi­ness own­ers in the Val­ley, now live in sub­stan­dard con­di­tions in refugee camps or poorly main­tained set­tle­ments in Jammu and other parts of In­dia. For many mem­bers of the dis­placed Sikh com­mu­nity, se­cur­ing a sta­ble liveli­hood has been a con­stant strug­gle. With­out reser­va­tions, they have of­ten been forced to take up low-pay­ing jobs or face un­em­ploy­ment. Their chil­dren, too, have faced ed­u­ca­tional hard­ships, as they lack the sup­port sys­tems or fi­nan­cial re­sources to ac­cess higher ed­u­ca­tion. These dif­fi­cul­ties are com­pounded by the loss of land and prop­erty in Kash­mir, which many Sikhs never had the op­por­tu­nity to re­claim.

Un­like other com­mu­ni­ties, Kash­miri Sikhs have strug­gled to mo­bi­lize ef­fec­tively for their rights. They face a sig­nif­i­cant lack of po­lit­i­cal rep­re­sen­ta­tion and recog­ni­tion of their strug­gles, both within Jammu and Kash­mir and in the broader na­tional dis­course. 

The ab­sence of suf­fi­cient sup­port has ren­dered the Kash­miri Sikh com­mu­nity both eco­nom­i­cally vul­ner­a­ble and so­cially mar­gin­al­ized. Though a rel­a­tively small group, they have stead­fastly pre­served a deep sense of pride in their cul­tural and re­li­gious her­itage. Yet, the so­cio-eco­nomic hard­ships they face have hin­dered their abil­ity to pass down their tra­di­tions and cus­toms to younger gen­er­a­tions. Many dis­placed Sikhs find them­selves torn be­tween safe­guard­ing their iden­tity and as­sim­i­lat­ing into new sur­round­ings, where their unique cul­ture fre­quently goes un­rec­og­nized or un­der­val­ued.

Un­like other com­mu­ni­ties, Kash­miri Sikhs have strug­gled to mo­bi­lize ef­fec­tively for their rights. They face a sig­nif­i­cant lack of po­lit­i­cal rep­re­sen­ta­tion and recog­ni­tion of their strug­gles, both within Jammu and Kash­mir and in the broader na­tional dis­course. The po­lit­i­cal si­lence sur­round­ing their plight has ren­dered their con­cerns largely in­vis­i­ble in the wider po­lit­i­cal arena. While other dis­placed com­mu­ni­ties have suc­cess­fully built ad­vo­cacy net­works and lob­bied for re­forms, the voices of Kash­miri Sikhs re­main scarcely heard.

It is im­per­a­tive for the po­lit­i­cal es­tab­lish­ment to ad­dress the spe­cific needs of Kash­miri Sikhs, rec­og­niz­ing their dis­place­ment and ex­tend­ing to them the reser­va­tion ben­e­fits and sup­port mech­a­nisms granted to other dis­placed groups.

It is im­per­a­tive for the po­lit­i­cal es­tab­lish­ment to ad­dress the spe­cific needs of this com­mu­nity, rec­og­niz­ing their dis­place­ment and ex­tend­ing to them the reser­va­tion ben­e­fits and sup­port mech­a­nisms granted to other dis­placed groups. The strug­gles of the Kash­miri Sikhs must not be over­looked, and their rights should be in­te­grated into the na­tional con­ver­sa­tion on the re­ha­bil­i­ta­tion and rein­te­gra­tion of dis­placed pop­u­la­tions in Jammu and Kash­mir.

The story of Kash­miri Sikhs’ dis­place­ment is one that has largely es­caped pub­lic con­scious­ness, yet it holds pro­found im­pli­ca­tions for the un­der­stand­ing of the re­gion’s com­plex so­cio-po­lit­i­cal fab­ric. Their ex­pe­ri­ence, marked by re­silience in the face of pro­found ad­ver­sity, is not merely a tale of loss but also a tes­ta­ment to the com­mu­ni­ty’s en­dur­ing spirit. In­jus­tice, how­ever, still per­sists in their ex­clu­sion from mech­a­nisms that could fa­cil­i­tate their re­cov­ery and in­te­gra­tion. As In­dia moves for­ward, it is crit­i­cal that the legacy of their suf­fer­ing is ac­knowl­edged not just in words, but through tan­gi­ble mea­sures that en­sure their right­ful place in the na­tion’s fu­ture. Only through gen­uine ef­forts to up­lift and in­te­grate the dis­placed Kash­miri Sikh com­mu­nity can the coun­try hope to heal the frac­tures left by decades of con­flict and dis­place­ment.

Shah Daniya is a Ph. D re­search scholar at St. Joseph’s Uni­ver­sity, Ban­ga­lore, whose in­ter­ests lie in trac­ing the cause célèbre in the pol­i­tics of dis­place­ment within con­tested spaces. She has pre­vi­ously pub­lished with Blooms­bury in the area of pub­lic pol­icy.

This ar­ti­cle was orig­i­nally pub­lished in the April 2025 edi­tion of Free­dom and Refugees. Ex­cept the ti­tle of the story, noth­ing has been changed.