Farooq Abdullah, the president of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, has raised concerns over recent terror threats directed at Kashmiri Pandit employees in the Valley. He has called for an investigation by the Union Home Ministry to address these alarming developments.
The threats have prompted the government to send hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit and other minority employees on administrative leave amid heightened security concerns. “Why have Kashmiri Pandits been singled out and threatened when so many people live here in Kashmir? The Home Ministry must look into it. Who are these people using social media to issue threats?
Around 6,000 Kashmiri Pandits have been given government jobs under the Prime Minister’s Special Employment Package, which was rolled out in 2010 to facilitate the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits displaced from the Valley following the outbreak of the secessionist movement in 1990.
Abdullah said people from different faiths live and work in Kashmir and questioned why Kashmiri Pandits had been specifically targeted. I think something is fishy and the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) should look into this,” Abdullah said. Official sources said employees appointed under the Prime Minister’s Special Employment Package have been advised to shift to safer locations. Those named in the alleged threat letter have been safely shifted to Jammu, sources said. “After the threats, police have advised us not to attend work, and those who are still living in the Valley have been asked not to come out of their homes,” said Amit Koul, a Kashmiri Pandit employee.
