Open threat to KPs

A TERROR group linked to Pakistan-headquartered Lashkar-e-Taiba has released a ‘hit list’ of 56 Kashmiri Pandit employees working in the Valley under the Prime Minister’s Rehabilitation Package. This open threat is worrisome for at least two reasons: the brazenness with which the list has been posted on the outfit’s blog suggests absolutely no fear of the law; the leak of the employees’ details points to the involvement of insiders who are collaborating with the terrorists. The Muslim majority community of Kashmir must unequivocally condemn this provocative ploy and express solidarity with the hapless Pandits.

The Valley has been rocked by targeted killings over the past year or so. Pandits and migrant labourers have been among the victims. Rahul Bhat, a clerk in the revenue department, was shot in his office in Budgam. Hindu staffers have been demanding their relocation, while promising that they would return to Kashmir when the situation improved.

Both the Central government — which repealed Article 370 and bifurcated the state three years ago — and the local authorities are finding it tough to make Pandits stay put in the troubled Valley. The spectre of becoming the bloodthirsty gunmen’s next victim has made life hell for them. Stepping up their security and conducting a thorough probe into the leak of their particulars can at best prove to be short-term confidence-building measures. The onus is on the Muslim community to reassure the Pandits that it won’t let the tragic exodus of 1990 happen all over again. Terror groups are thriving on local support; some of the attacks in 2021-22 were carried out by low-profile ‘hybrid terrorists’, who quietly return to their ordinary lives after completing the job assigned by their handlers. It’s the network of Valley-based spies that keeps the likes of Lashkar-e-Taiba well informed about the activities of Pandits. Such informers not only pose a threat to peace but can also imperil the livelihood of Kashmiris in the tourism sector, which is witnessing a boom this year. Treating the Pandits as their brethren and helping security agencies flush out terrorists and spies should be the way forward for the local community. 

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