Quit job or face death: LeT's fresh threat puts 7,000 Kashmiri Pandits on edge

Fresh threat letters from LeT proxy ULC have warned Kashmiri Pandit employees recruited under the PM Package to resign, even as their personal details were leaked online. The threats have renewed demands for a security audit, an FIR and stronger safeguards for the Pandit employees living in transit colonies and rented accommodation across Jammu and Kashmir.

"This was their modus operandi even in the 1990s, except there was no internet. They had lists typed out and stuck on walls."

That is how a Mumbai-based Kashmiri Pandit who has family in Srinagar described the latest threat against employees from the community working in Jammu and Kashmir. Fresh threat letters issued by Lashkar-e-Taiba-linked United Liberation Council (ULC/ULF) have put nearly 7,000 Kashmiri Pandit PM Package employees in the Valley under renewed security scrutiny, with private phone numbers, home addresses and vehicle registration details allegedly leaked online. The fresh intimidation from the terrorists, which followed at least five such threats in over a month, warned the Kashmiri Pandit employees to quit their jobs or face fatal consequences.

India Today Digital reached out to the Kashmiri Pandits Association (KPA), the All India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS), and several Kashmiri Pandits living in Mumbai and Delhi with families in the Valley to understand the security concerns surrounding the threats received on September 1. Officials from KPA and AIKS declined to comment on the issue. However, members of the Kashmiri Pandit community who still have family in the Valley said that such threats have increased of late.

"My family is not among the government employees. We are a business family, and the threat is directed at government employees this time. But that doesn't discount the fact that it is not safe for Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir. These threats are pretty common in the valley," a Kashmiri Pandit lawyer living in Delhi, who has family in Jammu, told India Today Digital.

CATASTROPHIC DATA BREACH OF KASHMIRI PANDITS BY LeT-LINKED TERRORISTS

In a September 7 (Monday) post on X, community voice Saba Kaul described the development as a "massive and alarming security crisis", alleging that the ULC had issued a direct threat to Kashmiri Pandit PM Package employees. The post on Kaul's X account, which is verified and linked to a verified phone number and has been active for over 10 years, claimed that private phone numbers, home addresses and vehicle registration details had been leaked online, along with a warning that employees should quit or face fatal consequences.

Kaul urged the Union Home Ministry and the Lieutenant Governor's office of Jammu and Kashmir to investigate what she called a "catastrophic data breach" and ensure security for employees on the ground.

The concerns were underlined a day earlier by Rakesh Handoo, who claims to be a PM Package employee and activist associated with the All PM Package Employees Association in Kashmir Valley. In a complaint dated September 6 addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and the J&K Police's Cyber Crime Wing, Handoo sought an FIR over a September 5 threat letter attributed to the ULC.

Handoo said on X that the letter threatened non-local employees and warned that they would be targeted irrespective of gender or status. He cited the line that read, "Body bags will be sent to their native places" from the ULC letter.

The PM Package employment scheme for Kashmiri migrants dates back to 2008, when the Centre announced a return-and-rehabilitation package that included 3,000 state government jobs with central funding. In November 2015, the Centre approved another 3,000 state government jobs under the Prime Minister's Development Package, taking the total number of centrally-funded posts under the two schemes to 6,000.

The terrorists, however, have issued a threat to 7,000 Kashmiri Pandits.

RISE IN THREATS BY TERRORISTS TO KASHMIRI PANDITS

A senior journalist based in Srinagar confirmed that the letters were released on the dark web before being circulated through WhatsApp and Telegram.

According to activist Handoo, around 6,000 PM Package employees have been serving in the Kashmir Valley for about 15 years, with many living in rented accommodation. He claimed that although 6,042 quarters had been constructed at Zewan (in Srinagar), Mattan (in Anantnag) and Veerinag (also in Anantnag), only around 800 had been allotted over three years.

Handoo demanded an immediate security audit of transit colonies and rented accommodation, an investigation into the source of the threat and a policy guaranteeing the "Right to Return and Rehabilitation" with job security and land rights.

The latest developments come after a series of threats against Kashmiri Pandit government employees over the past month.

On September 1, ULC issued its fifth threat letter against Kashmiri Pandits in a month. The letter claimed that the administration was considering arming migrant Pandit employees with light weapons following a security meeting chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

Handoo, in another post on September 7 (Monday), shared photographs he identified as transit accommodation for minority PM Package employees at Noa on the Chowgam Road in Kulgam. He alleged that some accommodation was located in isolated and vulnerable areas, lacked proper roads and drainage, remained unfinished and did not have adequate security or fencing.

He contrasted these conditions with the government's projection of normalcy in Kashmir.

"For whom is this normalcy?" Handoo asked, arguing that for an employee facing a threat letter, normalcy means a safe roof, a secure colony and completed accommodation.

THE LARGER POLITICAL AND SECURITY QUESTION PANDITS ARE FACING IN KASHMIR

The latest controversy follows a threat letter dated August 7 in which the ULC claimed to possess details of Kashmiri Pandit officials, their families, locations and workplaces. The group also threatened that the employees could be targeted even if they moved to Jammu.

India Today Digital had earlier reported that a Srinagar-based senior journalist confirmed the authenticity of that letter.

The report also noted that such communications trigger panic among the Kashmiri Pandit community, including those living in Jammu.

The August threat specifically named six government employees, but their details were not published. Panun Kashmir, a group representing displaced Kashmiri Pandits, called for an immediate threat assessment of those named and their families. Its convenor, Agnishekhar, said the publication of names and personal contact details alongside threats was a matter of "grave concern."

THE POLITICS AROUND TERROR THREATS TO KASHMIRI PANDITS

The threats have also exposed a political divide over how they should be interpreted.

National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah last week questioned why Kashmiri Pandit employees were receiving threats while senior Hindu officers serving in Jammu and Kashmir were not. He alleged that the threats could be part of a "conspiracy by the Lieutenant Governor-led administration to create fear and delay the restoration of statehood."

The BJP strongly rejected that argument. Its National Media Co-Incharge, Pradeep Bhandari, accused Abdullah of "soft support" for terrorists and said his remarks trivialised the suffering of Kashmiri Hindus.

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah has taken a different position from his father. After the first threat surfaced in August, he said targeted killings of minorities had occurred and warned that the latest threat should not be taken lightly. He called for action against those responsible and security for Kashmiri Pandit employees.

Following the second letter, Omar again said the security and intelligence agencies needed to determine where the threats were coming from.

The government's rehabilitation policy is also central to the issue. Kashmiri Pandits were forced to migrate from the Valley during the rise of armed insurgency in the late 1980s and early 1990s, amid targeted killings, threats and warnings delivered through local mosques. Many settled in Jammu and other parts of India after leaving their homes and properties behind.

The PM Package was part of subsequent efforts to facilitate their return through government employment. But the killing of Rahul Bhat inside the Tehsil Office in Chadoora in 2022, remains a stark reminder of the risks faced by Kashmiri Pandits returning to work in the Valley.

The current threats, therefore, are significant. The challenge for the administration is to ensure that the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits is not measured only by the number of jobs offered or houses constructed, but also by whether those employees believe they can live and work in the Valley without becoming targets.

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