New Delhi : 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. 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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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