In one of the most disturbing developments reported from Jammu and Kashmir this week, Islamic jihadists have issued fresh threats against Kashmiri Pandits, reviving fears of the violence and displacement that drove the community from its homeland in the early 1990s. A little-known Islamic jihad group calling itself the United Liberation Council (ULC) issued several threatening communications throughout August, targeting individual Pandit employees, and publishing highly sensitive personal information about some of them. The group also warned Pandits against pursuing cases linked to the killings and displacement of members of the Hindu community during the jihad violence of the 1990s.
The campaign began with a purported ULC letter that surfaced online in early August. The communication, dated August 7, claimed that the group possessed information about Kashmiri Pandit officials, their families, workplaces and locations, and warned Pandits that they could face attacks even if they moved to Jammu. The letter also threatened officials in Jammu and Kahmir and New Delhi over what the group called the “attachment of properties” and “harassment of relatives of supporters and fighters.” The communication carried names of six Kashmiri Pandit employees working for the government, and published their phone numbers. Authorities responded by increasing security around Pandit settlements and advising affected employees to work from home temporarily.
A second communication, dated August 23, escalated the threat by listing employees’ residential addresses, house numbers, street names, and vehicle registration details. The document described the Hindu employees as “traitors” and “white-collar terrorists,” and warned them that the group monitored their movements. The publication of such granular information has caused particular alarm, because it suggests that the people behind the material may have obtained access to personal or official records. Police and security agencies have not publicly confirmed how the perpetrators obtained the information.
The threats have also spread through digital channels and social media, rather than relying solely on physical posters. The online circulation allows the material to reach employees, their families and the wider community almost immediately. The combination of named individuals, contact information, addresses and threats against family members has made the campaign feel more like targeted intimidation than a generic militant warning.
Indian intelligence sources and media reports have linked the ULC to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Reports describe ULC as an obscure or shadow organization rather than a long-established Islamic terror group with a publicly documented leadership structure. Security agencies continue to investigate its identity, command structure and operational links.
Their August 27 communication broadened the threat beyond government employees. It attacked efforts to reopen cases involving the killings and displacement of Kashmiri Pandits during the 1990s, and warned those whom the group labeled “traitors.” By August 28, the ULC had issued a fourth warning against Kashmiri Pandits. The latest letter carried the name of a person identified as ULC media coordinator Ahmad Bilal, who signed it as a “Soldier of Resistance.”
The repeated threats have prompted Kashmiri Pandit employees to seek stronger protection. The All PM Package Employees Forum Kashmir wrote to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, requesting enhanced security. Community representatives have also sought continued work-from-home arrangements until authorities complete a fresh security assessment.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has called the threats “highly concerning,” and urged police and security agencies to take them seriously. He has asked authorities to protect the targeted employees and investigate the source of the communications. The administration has increased security around areas where Pandit employees live, but authorities have not publicly announced an arrest specifically tied to the ULC threat letters.
The renewed intimidation carries particular weight because it echoes the community’s traumatic experience during the insurgency. Islamic jihadists systematically targeted Kashmiri Pandits through gruesome killings, brutal rapes, and intimidation during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Targeted murders, attacks on Hindu families, threats against women and men, and warnings that forced Pandits to choose between leaving, converting, or facing violence created an atmosphere of terror that drove tens of thousands of families from the Valley in 1990.
The Indian government’s records document the scale of the displacement. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, 44,167 Kashmiri migrant families registered with the government after leaving the Valley since 1990 because of security concerns.
The exodus shattered the Hindu Pandit community that had lived in Kashmir for centuries, and left thousands of families separated from their homes, properties and ancestral roots. The latest threats therefore strike a particularly sensitive nerve; for many Pandits, they evoke memories of the violence and fear that preceded their displacement more than three decades ago.
The central government has launched rehabilitation measures that include employment, housing assistance, cash relief and transit accommodation. Under the prime minister’s packages, authorities announced 6,000 government jobs and planned 6,000 transit housing units in the Valley. By 2021, nearly 3,800 migrant candidates had returned to Kashmir to take government jobs under the package.
The government’s efforts to encourage Pandits to return and rebuild their lives in the Valley have nevertheless faced repeated setbacks, as jihadists continue to target members of the community. Islamic jihadists killed BJP leader Ajay Pandita in 2020, pharmacist Makhan Lal Bindroo in 2021, government employee Rahul Bhat in 2022, Puran Krishan Bhat also in 2022, and bank guard Sanjay Sharma in 2023. These killings demonstrated the continuing vulnerability of Hindus who live and work in the Valley.
For Kashmiri Pandits, the latest ULC threats therefore carry significance far beyond the individual names on the letters. Until investigators establish who stands behind the ULC, determine how the perpetrators obtained private information, and provide credible security guarantees, many Hindu employees will continue to question whether returning to the Valley can truly provide the safety from terrorist attacks and the permanence they seek.
Leave a Reply