Threatening letters revive fears among Kashmiri Pandits

A new wave of threatening letters targeting Kashmiri Pandits — members of the Hindu minority community who fled the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley during a militant uprising in the 1990s — has deepened fears among those who have returned to the region as civil servants under an Indian government federal rehabilitation scheme.

The latest letters, which surfaced in the last week of August, named several employees. The letters also included their Jammu residential addresses, vehicle registration numbers and phone numbers.

"Similar threat letters surfaced in early August, but the latest contains our Jammu residential address, vehicle and phone numbers, which have also been shared on social media," Anil Koul, a government employee, told DW, urging authorities to investigate the source of the leak.

The letters have been attributed to a little-known group calling itself the United Liberation Council, which security officials suspect could be a front for the Pakistan -based Islamist militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The group reportedly first surfaced in July, when it released a poster marking the death anniversary of a former militant commander. Authorities have yet to confirm the letters' authenticity or the existence of the group behind them.

The latest letters also distinguish between Pandits who never left the Valley — and are therefore "safe" — and those recruited under New Delhi's rehabilitation program, who are accused of working for "masters" outside Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Farooq Abdullah, called them a "conspiracy" aimed at delaying the restoration of statehood, which the region lost in 2019 .

Abdullah also questioned why Hindu officers from outside the region were not facing similar threats.