Recent fresh threat letters trigger protest: Kashmiri Pandit employees demand immediate shift to Zewan transit camp

Fresh threat letters issued in recent months to Kashmiri Pandit employees living and working in the Valley have once again raised security concerns within the community, prompting them to take to the streets in Srinagar on Wednesday. The protesters, many of them employees recruited under the Prime Minister’s Package, gathered in the Lal Chowk area demanding that the government immediately shift them to secured transit camps, citing growing fear over their safety and the disclosure of personal details in some of the threats.

The protesters said the latest threats have revived memories of the terror warnings issued against the Kashmiri Pandit community during the 1990s. They are now seeking immediate access to completed accommodation in transit camp at Zewan, along with stronger security arrangements for those still living in rented accommodation across the Valley.

Community members said the threat letters have emerged repeatedly in recent months and have created anxiety not only among the employees but also among their families living outside Jammu and Kashmir. They said the government should treat the latest threats as an urgent security concern and complete the remaining transit accommodation on priority.

“We have gathered here because we have been waiting for accommodation in the transit camps for years. The government has been assuring us that we will be accommodated, but nothing has happened so far. Now, with these fresh threat letters coming in, our concerns have increased. Our demand is very simple: the buildings that are already ready should be opened and we should be shifted there immediately. Construction on the remaining buildings can continue, but those of us who are living in different locations should be moved to the completed accommodations, where we will be safer. If we are shifted to these transit camps, where the Kashmiri Pandit community is accommodated together, it will also be easier for the government to provide us with proper security. This has become a huge mental stress for us. Our families are constantly worried about whether we have reached home safely. It is especially difficult for families who live outside the Valley to keep reassuring them that everything is fine when we ourselves are living with this fear. Only we know what we are going through.” said Barkha, Kashmiri Pandit Employee.

Community members said the current situation has placed the approximately 7,000 Kashmiri Pandits employed under the PM Package in a state of uncertainty, with their primary demand now being relocation to secure transit facilities until the security situation improves.

The protesters also raised the issue of unfinished accommodation at the transit facilities. Community representatives said that of the 36 buildings planned across the seven transit camps in Srinagar, 29 have been completed, and demanded that the completed buildings be opened for occupation immediately while construction on the remaining structures is expedited.

“Our major demand is something we have been raising with the government for years. We have been here since 2010, it has been 16 years and we still have not been provided safe accommodation. We have been given deadline after deadline: first April, then May, June, July, August, and now the administration has given us September-end as the deadline. I don’t understand why, when some of the buildings are already complete, we cannot be given possession of them. Out of the 39 buildings, 26 are ready for occupation. Why can’t we be shifted to these buildings immediately? Construction on the remaining buildings can continue alongside. September 30 is our deadline. If our demand is not addressed by then, from October 1 onwards, we will be forced to go on strike, including a hunger strike, '' said Ashish Razdan, Kashmiri Pandit Employee.

He Further added, ''Every time a threat letter is issued against us, the stress is immense. But more than us, it is our parents and families living in Jammu and other parts of the country who suffer. Imagine seeing the names of your loved ones in a threat letter. Imagine what their families must have gone through. Today, we have gathered a lot of courage to come out and speak to the media. We don’t know what the repercussions could be, but we hope and believe that the security agencies will protect us. These threat letters are traumatic. I cannot even explain the mental horror they cause. For families living in Jammu and other parts of the country, seeing the names of their loved ones being threatened is nothing short of terrifying. It feels like a matter of life and death.”

The protesters have urged the administration to treat the recent threats as a serious security concern and take immediate steps to ensure the safety of Kashmiri Pandit employees and their families living in the Valley. They have also warned that if the government fails to shift them to the Zewan transit camp by the September-end deadline, they will launch an indefinite hunger strike from October 1.