Following the ghastly terror strike in Pahalgam that left 26 people dead, the Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered minority Kashmiri Pandit employees, who are employed under the Prime Minister’s Special Rehabilitation Package, to report to work from home. The decision comes against the backdrop of growing security concerns in the Kashmir Valley.
The chief education officers (CEO) of north Kashmir’s Baramulla and south Kashmir’s Anantnag districts separately issued orders on Wednesday, directing the minority community employees of the education department to stay off-campus until further notice.
All employees who are working under the PM Package are hereby asked to work from home during the course of this week with immediate effect upto Sunday (i.e. 27-05-2025). All such employees concerned will remain available to perform their duties and responsibilities,” was the order of Baramulla district.
Anantnag’s education department issued a similar order called ‘Work From Home’, instructing all minority staff to work from home “till further orders.” Interestingly, the orders did not state the cause of the abrupt decision, although the timing has a strong correlation with the recent terror attack.
5,500 Employees Under the PM Package Affected
Official statistics say about 5,500 employees have been appointed under the special rehabilitation policy initiated by the UPA government in 2008-09 to rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits back in the Valley. They have been deployed primarily in the education, revenue, and finance wings.
After the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, several of these employees and other non-local workers were targeted by a series of terror attacks attributed to The Resistance Front, a subsidiary of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. The organization has also taken responsibility for the Pahalgam attack.
Strikes, Protests, and Security Alert After Pahalgam Attack
The spate of attacks had previously compelled many Pandit workers to leave the Valley and migrate to Jammu or other Indian territories. During 2021–22, such workers had organised a strike of one year’s duration and insisted on their shifting outside Kashmir to ensure safety.
In the aftermath of the Pahalgam bloodshed, civil society activists, traders, and students organized candlelight protests throughout Kashmir. There was a complete shutdown in both divisions of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. Schools and some government offices were closed, and public transport was thin.
Security forces are now on high alert as search operations are ongoing in the Lidder Valley district to identify the militants who carried out the attack.
All-Party Meetings in Delhi, Srinagar
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will likely preside over an all-party meeting in Delhi on Thursday, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah also set to be present. Shah had gone to the Pahalgam site of the attack on Wednesday and offered floral tributes to the martyrs at the Srinagar police headquarters.
In the meanwhile, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has summoned a similar meeting at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre in Srinagar to discuss the deteriorating security situation and show collective condemnation.
This attack is one of the deadliest attacks on tourists in Kashmir since the early 1990s war, creating public dismay and leading to quick administrative and political action.
