Serious questions have once again been raised over the safety of nearly 6,000 Kashmiri Pandit employees working under the Prime Minister's Rehabilitation Package in different parts of the Kashmir Valley.
An unidentified terrorist organisation, the United Liberation Council (ULC), issued a threatening letter on Thursday. This is the sixth such threat allegedly issued by the group in the past 40 days.
This time, the terrorists published photographs of protesting employees along with a graphic of an AK-47. They described the employees as "white-collar terrorists" and "Union Home Ministry-backed protesters". Comparing the Kashmiri Pandit transit camps with Israeli-style settlements, they warned that even the Union Home Ministry would not be able to protect them.
The threatening letter was signed by Ahmed Bilal, identified as the media coordinator of Soldiers of Resistance. In the letter, the terrorist organisation claimed to have the employees' live locations, phone numbers, home addresses, complete family details and information about their daily activities. It also threatened that they could be attacked at any time.
Meanwhile, PM package employees have appealed to the government for protection.
They have also warned that if security and safe housing are not provided by September 30, they will be forced to resign en masse and leave the Valley. The letter contains photographs of the same employees who staged a peaceful protest for their safety at Srinagar's Press Enclave on Wednesday.
The employees have questioned how sensitive data pertaining to thousands of employees from the Relief Commissioner's Office and the Education Department reached the terrorists.
Provide Security, Otherwise We Will Resign and Flee
More than 6,000 Kashmiri Pandits are working in Kashmir under the PM package. They are reportedly terrified following the latest threat. They have warned the Central Government and the administration that if safe housing and security are not provided by September 30, they will begin an indefinite hunger strike from October 1 and could be forced to resign en masse and leave the Valley.
Social activist Rakesh Handoo, on behalf of six Kashmiri Pandit employees, has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to intervene immediately.
Handoo has demanded that an FIR be registered against the ULC for issuing the threats. He also sought immediate security for the employees whose photographs were released in the threatening letter and a high-level investigation into the alleged data leak.
"The objective of Pakistan is to issue threats, and implementing them is easy for the enemy because Kashmiri Pandit employees working in the Valley are soft targets. Terrorists are looking for soft targets such as Kashmiri Pandit employees and non-local labourers to keep the pot of terrorism boiling," former Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Kuldeep Khoda said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, while speaking about the rehabilitation, security and threats faced by Kashmiri Pandits, said that not a single Kashmiri Pandit employee in the Valley is homeless.
"Some people are presenting a misleading picture. Wherever the administration has arranged accommodation for them, there are no other accommodations available. Construction of new housing is progressing rapidly for employees who have not yet received accommodation or are on the waiting list. Allotments will be made in a phased manner," he said.
