On Sunday, May 15, a letter surfaced on social media that threatened to exterminate Hindus living in the Kashmir Valley if they do not vacate their homeland.
“All migrants and RSS agents leave or face death. No space for Kashmiri Pandits who want another Israel in Kashmir to kill Kashmiri Muslims. Double/triple your security, be ready for targeted killing. You will die,” the letter by terror outfit ‘Lashkar-e-Islam’ read.
A copy of the contentious letter was posted on social media by the Assistant Editor of CNN News18, Tejinder Singh Sodhi. He also shared that the cops have started investigating the letter and security has been increased around the migrant colony Hawal in the Pulwama district of South Kashmir.
The story was covered by media publication India Today on the same day. “This comes only days after Rahul Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit government employee, was shot dead by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district. He was attacked at the Tehsildar office in Chadoora in central Kashmir on Thursday afternoon,” the report had added.
Free Press Journal had also covered the threat issued by ‘Lashkar-e-Islam’ by citing India Today in its report.
However, in reality, the letter by the Islamist terror outfit had originally surfaced in August 2016. It was carried out in a news report by DNA India.
While speaking about the development, Vinod Pandit said, “Fear is palpable because Kashmiri Pandits think this is a serious warning to the community to leave the valley. Most of the Kashmiri migrants had shifted to Jammu after the stone-pelting following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani”
Pandit was the then Chairman of the All Parties Migrants Coordination Committee (APMCC).
The origins of Lashkar-e-Islam
DNA India had reported in 2016 that Lashkar-e-Islam is led by terrorist Abdul Qayoom Najar and had earlier been a part of radical Islamist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. The chief of Lashkar-e-Islam has a bounty of ₹1 million rupees on his head.
The terrorist organization has been active in both North and South Kashmir since 2015. In that year, it had warned telecom operators to stop their business in Sopore and had killed 6 civilians in the process.
It was alleged that Hizbul Mujahideen wanted the Indian police to attack Abdul Qayoom Najar as he had messed up the financial targets of Hizbul by creating a breakaway group.
As per an article in Combating Terrorism Centre, Lashkar-e-Islam has also been active in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It reportedly started out as a ‘vigilante crime-fighting organisation’ and later metamorphosed into a terrorist outfit with ties to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Again in November 2014, it was reported that 3 key commanders of Lashkar-e-Islam had surrendered before the Pakistani authorities. The terrorists included Saifullah Saif, Ilyas and Wajid.
“The LI, which is already battered with the ongoing military operation, have suffered a severe blow due to the surrender of these commanders,” the report emphasised. Another 80 terrorists associated with Lashkar-e-Islam surrendered in October of that year.
د #لشکر اسلام ترهګریزې ډلې مشر منګل باغ نن له غرمې مخکې د #ننګرهار د اچين ولسوالۍ باندر درې څېړۍ کڅونه سيمه کې د خپلو دوو ملګرو سره د دوی له لوري د ځای پر ځای شوي ماين په چاودنه کې ووژل شو، منګل باغ په ياده سيمه کې په ګڼ شمېر ترهګريزو فعاليتونو کې لاس درلود. pic.twitter.com/OvHxXIiGql
— Ziaulhaq Amarkhil ضیاءالحق امرخیل (@ZiaulhaqAmarkhi) January 28, 2021
A terrorist Mangal Bagh, who served as the Chief of Lashkar-e-Islam, was killed in a mine explosion in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province in January last year. The development was confirmed on Twitter by Governor (Nangarhar) Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhel.
“Mangal Bagh, also known as Mangal Bagh Afridi, the leader of Lashkar-i-Islam, a militant organisation operating in (erstwhile) Khyber Agency, has been killed in a roadside explosion in Achin district along with three others,” he had tweeted.
Earlier in July 2016, it was claimed that Mangal Bagh was killed in a US drone strike but the report turned out to be false. It must be mentioned that Lashkar-e-Islam was allegedly declared a ‘proscribed organisation’ by the Government of Pakistan on June 30, 2008.
Recent threats to Kashmiri Hindus and dubious fact checks
In April this year, Opindia had reported a threat letter addressed to Kashmiri Hindus by Lashkar-e-Islam. “Leave the valley or face dire consequences”, read the letter, warning Kashmiri Pandits, migrants and ‘RSS agents’.
It further stated that Kashmiri Hindus would be killed and sent to hell for disobeying their diktat and nobody including PM Modi or Amit Shah will be able to save them. The letter to all the ‘non-Muslims’ also noted that they were being watched by ‘followers of Allah’ and that they would have to convert if they wanted to stay in Kashmir.
Terror organization Lashkar-e-Islam has issued a warning to Kashmiri Hindus to ‘leave Kashmir or get killed’. 🙄🙄👇 pic.twitter.com/UubI2fnJqI
— Naren Mukherjee 🇮🇳 (@narendra52) April 14, 2022
“You are being watched by followers of Allah. One by one, all of you will be killed and sent to hell. Every Kashmiri Pandit will die. Kashmir is only for those who accept & follow Allah”, it read.
According to the letter, the terror group Lashkar-e-Islam was being supported by a few Police officers and a few unnamed delegates. The terror group has also started targeting Kashmiri Muslims who are friends with the Kashmiri Pandits and RSS workers.
“If Muslims of Kashmir do not remain aloof from Kafirs, they will also be killed”, the letter warned. After the letter surfaced on social media, dubious fact-checkers at Alt News (who have a long history of whitewashing Islamists) claimed that the letter was fake.
