New Delhi: Hundreds of Kashmiri Hindu government employees in the Kashmir valley have been sent on administrative leave till August 25 after a purported terrorist threat letter named government staff and published contact details, prompting police to advise precautions.
NDTV reported that employees appointed under the prime minister’s special employment package had been advised to move to safer locations, while those specifically named were shifted to Jammu. The report quoted an employee named Amit Koul as saying that the police had advised staff not to attend offices and those remaining in the valley to restrict movement.
The episode has renewed concern over attacks on minorities and other vulnerable groups, even as overall terrorist violence in Jammu & Kashmir has fallen sharply.
The communication, dated August 7 and purportedly issued by a group calling itself the United Liberation Council, named Kashmiri Hindu employees and claimed access to information about their families and locations. India Today described the group citing Indian intelligence sources, as a front of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. Police have confirmed that the communication surfaced, though its authenticity and operational links remain under investigation.
This is not the first such warning this year. In February, purported posters and online messages linked in reports to The Resistance Front, an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, threatened Kashmiri Hindus against returning to or remaining in the valley. Police said the material was being verified and security arrangements were in place for minorities.
Panun Kashmir convenor Agnishekhar has called the publication of names and phone numbers a serious escalation and sought a detailed threat assessment.
TCA remains security concern
Security agencies have used the expression “terrorist-committed atrocities” (TCA) for terrorist violence directed at civilians and other vulnerable targets. Such attacks can create fear far beyond the immediate casualty count, particularly when victims are selected because of identity or occupation.
That danger has resurfaced in recent weeks. As RNA Media had reported, a Jammu & Kashmir Police head constable was killed in a terrorist attack in Anantnag on July 22. Nine days later, two migrant labourers from Chhattisgarh were shot at a brick kiln in Kulgam and later died.
The Kulgam killings were the first fatal targeted attack on migrant workers in the valley since October 2024. Officials have since intensified security and patrolling around areas inhabited by minorities and Hindu employees
Soft targets remain vulnerable
Union government data released in June show an improved security picture. Terrorist-initiated incidents in Jammu & Kashmir fell from 228 in 2018 to 12 in 2025. Civilian casualties declined from 55 to 28, while security force fatalities fell from 91 to 16.
The numbers point to a sharp contraction in organised terrorist activity. The latest attacks, however, show that smaller networks can still inflict casualties and create a disproportionate psychological effect by targeting policemen, minorities and migrant workers.
The government’s rehabilitation policy makes the security of Kashmiri Hindu employees particularly sensitive. The ministry of home affairs said in March that 6,000 government posts had been earmarked for Kashmiri migrant youth and appointment orders issued to 5,896 candidates. It also approved 6,000 transit accommodation units at 20 locations in the valley, with 4,112 completed by then.
Fear versus promise of return
The leave order cuts directly into a policy intended to support the return and rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri families. After targeted attacks killed five Kashmiri Hindus in 2022, package employees staged prolonged protests and sought relocation outside the valley, according to media reports.
Community representatives are again seeking stronger protection, but prominent voices say that the threats should not be read as a reflection of Kashmiri society as a whole. The J&K lieutenant governor, Manoj Sinha, said at an inter-faith gathering in June that ordinary Kashmiris should not be collectively blamed for the Hindu exodus and stressed the valley’s tradition of coexistence.