Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan, a book written by Amardeep Singh, methodically records the traces of the Sikh legacy left behind during the partition. The book encourages readers to think about their lineage through powerful images and texts that silently witness these lost facets of a rich and long Sikh legacy. Amardeep Singh, the chronicler of this lost legacy, has documented the remnants of Sikh history for posterity.
In this book, the author shares an exploration of the remnants of the Sikh community that once thrived in these lands across West Punjab, North-West Frontier and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. His work covers abandoned, occupied, and functional Gurdwaras (Sikh temples), forts, battlegrounds, mansions, art, architecture, spiritual remnants, education institutions, and residential and commercial establishments that collectively reflect the erstwhile secularity of the region. As many as 507 photos are included in the narrative's 60 chapters.
About Amardeep Singh
Born in Gorakhpur, India, and schooled in the prestigious Doon School, Dehradun, Amardeep Singh studied Electronics Engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology in India, and later on Business Administration at the University of Chicago. For years, he worked in the corporate sector.
It was in his late forties, that he decided to follow his "spiritual calling". He says that he decided to go to Pakistan to explore his father's homeland and reestablish ties with his ancestors, but he ended up forging far deeper bonds than that. Singh decided to investigate his family roots and Sikh heritage in the subcontinent.
Partition experience for his family
In an interview with Dawn during his visit to Islamabad to promote his book, he said his parents often told him about the partition and what his family went through. His parents were from present-day Pakistan. A large Sikh population was found in Muzaffarabad, where his father was from, and his mother was from Abbottabad. As soon as the Kashmir war began after the partition, Muzaffarabad was attacked, and the war cry was "Hindu ka zar, Sikh ka car".
His childhood was filled with stories about that time. On Oct 22, 1947, at the junction of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers, there was a big massacre at the Dumail Bridge. As a result of the massacre, two of his father's sister's children were lost. Two years later, they were found in Rawalpindi by a missionary. Later, they were reunited with Amardeep Singh's family. They are described in the first chapter of this book, 'In search of Roots'.
The tale of Jaswanti, a cousin, is told in the subsequent chapter, Meeting Noori. When she was four years old, her parents were killed in that atrocity under the bridge, and she still vividly recalls what happened. He tracked her down while he traveled across Pakistan and identified her as Noori. She grew up in a Muslim home and now resides in Rawalpindi.
The inspiration for his book
Despite having relocated to UP, India, his father always missed Muzaffarabad. Seeing that sorrow on Amardeep's face was part of what motivated him to conduct this research.
When he was in his 20s, he became interested in the subject and started reading about it. He joined American Express in the financial services sector in India after completing his engineering degree. After that, he moved to Hong Kong for a period of time. Eventually, he relocated to Singapore.
It was in 2014 when he decided that he was done with the corporate world and he left his job in the corporate sector. Over time, the idea of traveling to Pakistan began to take hold. He was visiting Pakistan for the first time in his life. Even though he was visiting Pakistan for the first time, he had been living in Pakistan through the stories of his parents for a long time.
To get into Pakistan, he applied for a 30-day unrestricted visa and was granted one. When he landed in Lahore, he did not know where he was going, and he came with three changes of clothes, a camera, and lenses. Within 30 days, he was able to visit 36 different places in Pakistan, having connected with like-minded people and he experienced a lot of love during his visit to Pakistan.
‘Sikh legacy has been reduced to two gurdwaras’
Talking about his travels and research, he said that in both India and Pakistan, there is a great deal of Sikh history missing. In this region, only two people protested the invasions. Porus was the first during Alexander the Great's time, and Ranjeet Singh was the second.
A sprawling empire that stretched from Lahore, Sri Nagar, Ladakh, and Peshawar was founded by Ranjeet Singh. The Durand Line is Ranjeet's gift to Pakistan. Without him, KP and Ladakh would have been part of Afghanistan and China.
As of now, 80% of what was Ranjeet Singh's empire is in Pakistan and around 20% in India. Pakistan is home to all the Sikh history. This is one of the major reasons why all Sikhs dream of visiting Pakistan. Nankana Sahib and Punja Sahib are always remembered by the Sikhs. There is a greater legacy than religion in Pakistan, but we (Sikhs) reduced it to two gurdwaras.
A Sikh cousin in Mansehra, who remained in Pakistan after the partition, took Amardeep to the grave of his father, on which is written, "Ghulam Sarwar wald Makhan Singh." Stories like Noori's, the bridge where the murder took place, and Havelis, artwork, architecture, and frescos all leave a lasting impression. Gurdwaras are also part of the legacy, but they are not the entire legacy.
Documenting the history of the Sikh faith in Pakistan, The book, an excellent travelogue, contains a wealth of information about the heritage of the Sikhs in Pakistan. Amardeep's passion and commitment for the Sikh faith is unending, as is the agony and anguish he felt after seeing firsthand how some of Sikhism's most significant historical landmarks have been neglected, damaged, and destroyed.
It reminds us that the culture that flourished and prospered across this region must surely have left a larger legacy and that the Sikh history in Pakistan is not limited to the few accessible gurdwaras, there is more to it.