LeT threat puts Kashmiri Pandits on edge
A large number of Kashmiri Pandit migrant employees, engaged under the Prime Minister’s Rehabilitation Package (PMRP) in different parts of Kashmir Valley, have been advised to shift to safer places in the run-up to the Independence Day celebrations, after a Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT) linked terrorist outfit issued a threat letter warning of attacks on them. The warning was also sent to the Lieutenant Governor (LG), the Director General of Police and authorities in Delhi.
The letter claimed it will not distinguish between individuals during future attacks. The United Liberation Council (ULC), a shadow front of LeT, has also published a hit list of Kashmiri Pandit employees, along with their contact numbers. The ULC has also threatened immediate and severe retaliation against security personnel and the administration over the attachment or seizure of properties belonging to terrorist sympathisers and fighters.
Official sources said the employees camping in the Valley have been advised to use secure routes during transit. At the same time, multiple agencies are on the job to track down the footprints of terror modules and neutralise those involved in issuing these threats. Kashmiri Pandit Government employees have either vacated their accommodations or shifted to other safer places.
Local police and civil administration have already beefed up security in and around Government accommodations for PMRP employees. A close vigil is maintained with the help of CCTV cameras fitted on the periphery of Government quarters.
The Pioneer spoke to some of the Kashmiri migrant employees, currently staying in Jammu, to learn about the ground situation.
A Government school teacher said that after the recent threat surfaced and names of some of the employees were placed on the hit list, the employees were left terrified.
“We have not forgotten the targeted killings of Rahul Bhat and several other Kashmiri Pandits, school teachers, Deepak Chand, Supinder Kour and Rajni Bala in 2021-22,” they said.
Another Kashmiri Pandit Government employee, posted in north Kashmir district of Baramulla, said that the situation was worrisome in the south Kashmir districts but migrant employees were reporting for duty in the central and north Kashmir districts. “We are all worried about our safety and security. The names of employees have been published in the threat letter,” they said.
Dr Agnishekar, convenor of Panun Kashmir, an organisation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, has urged the LG of Jammu and Kashmir to immediately direct the police and security agencies to undertake a comprehensive threat assessment of all persons named in the communication and their immediate families.
“Whether the perpetrators actually possess such information or are attempting psychological warfare must be established immediately. The authorities must investigate the source of the information, the digital trail behind the communication and whether any surveillance, profiling or reconnaissance of the targeted persons has taken place,” he said.
Sounding a word of caution, Dr Agnishekar said the communication represented a serious escalation because it went beyond generic threats and appeared to identify individuals as potential targets while claiming access to information about their families, locations and places of work.
“The publication of names and personal contact details, accompanied by explicit threats to pursue the individuals and their families, is a matter of grave concern. This is not something that can be dismissed as mere rhetoric. It has the unmistakable potential to intimidate the targeted individuals and terrorise the wider Kashmiri Pandit community,” Dr. Agnishekar said. “The Kashmiri Pandit community has already witnessed what happens when threats are ignored or treated lightly. The administration must not wait for a threat to materialise into violence before taking preventive action,” he asserted.