Sikh identity in exile: language, religion, and belonging among Afghan Hindu–Sikh communities in India

This article examines how Sikh identity is reconstituted under displacement through an ethnographic study of Afghan Hindu–Sikh communities in India. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Delhi between 2021 and 2025, it explores how language, religion, memory, and generational change shape belonging. Dari and Pashto have declined in everyday use, while Punjabi, Hindi, and English serve changing social functions. Gurdwaras sustain religious practice, collective memory, and community support. The article conceptualises this process as a transitional Sikh formation, demonstrating how Sikh identity persists through territorial rupture, linguistic change, and shifting forms of belonging.