Threat letters targeting Kashmiri Pandits expose fallout of Hindutva policies
Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, alleged threat letters targeting Kashmiri Pandits have surfaced, drawing a distinction between Pandits who remained in the Valley and those who left under the Indian BJP government’s policies, amid concerns over the role of employees recruited under BJP schemes in the occupied territory.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the latest letter, which surfaced on Sunday, names around half a dozen Kashmiri Pandits, lists their residential details in Jammu, and accuses them of being “white-collar terrorists” working for their “masters” in New Delhi. Indian agencies said they are investigating the authenticity of the letter and trying to identify those behind it.
The letter says that Pandits who remained in the Valley are safe and face no threat, while warning those who left Kashmir under Indian strategic policies of the 1990s and those involved in implementing the RSS/BJP communal Hindutva agenda in Kashmir. It says their activities are being monitored.
Signed by one Ahmed Bilal and attributed to the United Liberation Council, the purported letter emerged nearly two weeks after a similar message warned Kashmiri Pandits associated with the NIA and SIA in the Valley to change their ways. The latest threat comes amid the Indian BJP government’s policies for the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in separate colonies.
Under government employment schemes, several Pandits from Jammu and Delhi have returned to the Valley to work in various Indian agencies.
The earlier letter had named and provided phone numbers of some NIA, SIA and Revenue Department employees, and linked their activities to government action involving properties of Kashmiri freedom activists. Kashmiri Pandits who remained in the Valley have continued to live alongside their Muslim neighbours, while some Pandit employees based in Jammu and recruited into Indian investigative and administrative agencies have been involved in property attachments, arrests and cases against Kashmiris. The developments highlight the dangers of using members of a community as instruments of coercive state policies. Rather than promoting reconciliation, the BJP government’s Hindutva-driven approach, critics say, has deepened mistrust and placed some returning employees in direct confrontation with their fellow Kashmiris.
The IIOJK administration, under the Lieutenant Governor, has been actively assisting Kashmiri Pandits in reclaiming properties that were sold to locals since 1990.
In one instance, 17 kanals of agricultural land in the Shahtulpora area of Bandipora district was handed over to a Kashmiri Pandit, identified as Rakesh Jyotshi, by the BJP administration. According to reports, Rakesh Jyotshi had left the area for Jammu with his family during the 1990s. The administration claimed it had restored possession of the land to him. However, local residents of Bandipora have raised objections and protested, saying they have been cultivating the land since 1990 and had purchased it from Rakesh Jyotshi’s mother, paying her on multiple occasions.
The residents presented legal documents as written proof of the transaction and payments made to the Pandit family. They expressed concern over the administration’s decision to hand over the land to Rakesh Jyotshi and demanded a fair investigation. They appealed to the authorities to ensure justice for all parties involved. This case reflects how the BJP regime is seeking to transfer lands from Kashmiri Muslims who purchased the property from Pandits with their consent.
Legally, properties sold under free will with proper statutory clearance cannot be arbitrarily taken back from purchasers.
Critics say the BJP regime, in line with its Hindutva RSS policy, is using the revenue machinery to clear and transfer such properties back to Pandits who had earlier sold them. The situation underscores the need to protect local Kashmiri Pandits from threats while holding accountable those who participate in coercive measures against Kashmiris. It also exposes how Hindutva policies have aggravated communal mistrust instead of fostering coexistence and reconciliation in the disputed territory.
