Kashmiri Shi'as, sectarianism, and public secrets

Sharma, Sarbani (2026) Kashmiri Shi'as, sectarianism, and public secrets. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 46 (2). pp. 339-352. ISSN 1089-201X

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Abstract

Abstract In the metanarrative of violence and oppression against Muslims in India, the Shias of Kashmir are intercalated as a minority within the majority Sunni Muslims in South Asia, who in turn are a minority in India compared to Hindus. This article challenges the dominant frameworks of majoritarian and minority scholarship to underline the unique, dynamic relationship between the Kashmiri Sunnis and Shias, one that is influenced by the Indian state and the Kashmiri movement for the right to self-determination. This distinct position implicates the ways in which Shias navigate their everyday lives and participate in the movement for the right to self-determination. Drawing on ethnographic insights from the Eidgah Martyrs graveyard in Srinagar and discourses around the sectarian question in Kashmir, the article examines how Kashmiri Shias use public secrets as speech acts—“to say what should not be said”—to reveal the heterogeneity of perspectives within the resistance movement. Understanding public secrets as a form of non-sovereign politics in Kashmir is not motivated by the framework of “exposing” contradictions but to understand where and how individuals and communities step outside normative ways of resistance.

Item Type:	Article
Authors:	Sharma, Sarbani
Document Language:	Language English
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sectarianism, Kashmiri Shi'a, public secrets, moral contracts, minority politics
Subjects:	Religion Social sciences > Sociology & anthropology > Groups of people > Ethnic and national groups Social sciences > Groups of people > Ethnic and national groups
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru > School of Development
Full Text Status:	None
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/7927
Publisher URL:	https://doi.org/10.1215/1089201X-12513740

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