Militant group’s Kashmiri Pandit hit list sparks panic

 BJP has sought a probe into 'security breach' and demanded protection for the Pandits

The Kashmir Files.: File picture

Muzaffar Raina   |   TT  |  Srinagar   |   05.12.22  :  Fresh panic has gripped the Kashmiri Pandit community after a militant group released a list of several dozen Pandit government employees along with their places of posting in the Valley, vowing to eliminate them.

The BJP has sought a probe into the “security breach” — which comes at a time when targeted killings have prompted many Pandit employees to flee the Valley — and demanded protection for the Pandits.

The list of 56 employees, mostly Kashmiri Pandits but including some Muslims, accuses them of a “vital role in spreading Delhi’s narrative and Hindutva agenda” but offers no evidence. It has been released in the name of The Resistance Front (TRF), seen as a front for the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

The statement appeared in the Kashmir Fight blog spot, which had recently carried the TRF’s threats to journalists whom it accused of working for the State in the Valley.

The blog spot cannot be accessed from the Valley but a screenshot of the latest threat was tweeted on Saturday by the Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, a group representing Pandits who never left the Valley.

BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur on Sunday asked the administration to ensure the security of Pandits working in Kashmir under the Prime Minister’s rehabilitation programme.

“It was surprising to see the list of 56... getting leaked and reaching the TRF’s blog Kashmir Fight,” he said. “This is a security breach as terrorists have a clear idea who is posted where.”

Thakur said the government must find out who had leaked the list at a time “target killings are taking place in the Valley”.

On Saturday, the Sangharsh Samiti had tweeted that a “list of PM Package Employees, which is part of govt record of Education Dept, along with threat poster is issued by Terrorists”.

“How this record is with militants? Is the staff of Govt Depts with terrorists? How can a Hindu be safe in Kashmir when his colleague wishes him dead?” the group tweeted, apparently accusing Muslim colleagues of mischief but offering no evidence.

The statement in the blog spot claims to have “details of each and every Migrant Hindutva Fascist ideology spreading Kashmir Pandiths and Non-Locals/ Foreigners maligning the atmosphere of the Valley”.

“The Resistance Fighters have already put forth their points and reason for carrying out attacks on such elements and it will continue,” it says.

“We once again want to warn such elements not to become pawns of Delhi Regime and don’t become the carriers of their filthy and fascist agenda.... The Resistance Fighters are crystal clear in their attacks.”

The development comes days after Nadav Lapid, celebrated Israeli filmmaker and jury chief at the recent International Film Festival of India, called The Kashmir Files a “vulgar” propaganda film, triggering controversy. The film aims to depict the attacks on Pandits in 1990 that caused many of them to leave the Valley.