On 12 May 2022, militants shot dead Rahul Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit clerk, inside the tehsil office at Chadoora in Budgam district. Pandit employees hired under the Prime Minister's package protested, and police used tear gas and batons on their march the next day. After more killings, including teacher Rajni Bala and bank manager Vijay Kumar, many left for Jammu and stopped work. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha's administration refused to relocate them outside the Valley, moved them to "secured locations" within it, and stopped their salaries. The employees called off their strike in March 2023 after 310 days and protested again in 2026 over threats and housing.
Key takeaways
- Police said the next day that both of his killers, whom they described as Pakistani militants, had been killed in Bandipora. In August 2022 police named another man, Lateef Rather of the Lashkar-e-Taiba/TRF, as involved.
- On 13 May police fired tear gas and used batons to stop a march from the Sheikhpora camp towards Srinagar airport. Officials reported no casualties. LG Manoj Sinha ordered a probe into the use of force.
- The employees demanded relocation to Jammu until the Valley was safe. The administration's position was that they would be moved to safer places inside the Valley, not out of it.
- From September 2022 salaries of absent employees were stopped. In December Sinha said there would be no salary "for sitting at home".
- The employees suspended their strike in March 2023, saying they were "surrendering". In 2026 they protested again over threat letters and delays in secure transit housing.
Background: the PM package jobs
Under a rehabilitation policy announced in 2008, migrant Kashmiri Pandits were given government jobs in the Kashmir Valley, on condition that they serve there Deccan Herald Kashmir Life. The 2009 recruitment rules say an appointee "shall not be eligible for transfer outside the valley under any circumstances", and that one who migrates again "shall lose the job without any notice" PTI via Kashmir Reader.
Figures for how many work under the package vary. Officials told The Tribune in July 2022 that 5,928 employees appointed since 2010 were in service. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha the same month that 5,502 Kashmiri Pandits had been given jobs Tribune PTI via Deccan Herald. Many lived in transit camps such as Sheikhpora in Budgam, and targeted attacks on minorities had been rising since October 2021 Deccan Herald.
The killings, May to June 2022
Rahul Bhat, 12 May. Two militants with pistols entered the tehsil office at Chadoora and shot Bhat, a revenue department clerk, from point-blank range. He was taken to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar and died Deccan Herald. The Tribune gave his age as 32 and said he was hit by five bullets; PTI gave his age as 35 Tribune PTI via Deccan Herald.
Claim · Police No group claimed the attack, but police sources blamed The Resistance Front (TRF), which they describe as a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba Deccan Herald. On 13 May police said the two killers, Pakistani militants named as Faisal alias Sikander alias Mohsin, and Ukasha, had been shot dead in Bandipora Tribune. On 10 August 2022, Kashmir ADGP Vijay Kumar said Lateef Rather of the "LeT(TRF)", whom he said was involved in killing Bhat and TV artist Amreen Bhat, was trapped in an encounter in Budgam PTI via Outlook. Police later said all three trapped men were killed, with identities yet to be confirmed at the time Deccan Herald.
Rajni Bala, 31 May. Bala, 36, a teacher from Samba in the Jammu region, was shot near the government school in Gopalpora, Kulgam, where she was posted, and was declared dead in hospital. It was the seventh targeted killing in Kashmir that month: three off-duty policemen and four civilians PTI via Morung Express. Officials first described her as a migrant Kashmiri Pandit, which PTI and The Wire later corrected The Wire. Deccan Herald reported she had been recruited under the Scheduled Caste quota Deccan Herald. Claim · Police Police said two militants killed in Mishipora, Kulgam, on 16 June were both involved in her killing ANI via The Quint.
Vijay Kumar, 2 June. Kumar, 29, from Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, was a manager at the Ellaquai Dehati Bank's Arreh Mohanpora branch in Kulgam. He was shot inside the branch, on CCTV, and died on the way to hospital. TRF claimed responsibility. It was the eighth targeted killing in the Valley since 1 May PTI via Tribune. A brick kiln labourer shot the same day was the ninth PTI via Business Standard.
The Sheikhpora protest and the tear gas
On the night of 12 May, dozens of Pandits from the Sheikhpora camp sat on the Srinagar-Budgam highway. One protester said they were collecting resignation letters to submit if they were not transferred to Jammu or elsewhere in India. Employees also demanded the withdrawal of the bond they signed at appointment to serve in Kashmir Tribune.
On 13 May the protesters said they waited until 11 am for LG Manoj Sinha. When he did not come, they marched towards Srinagar airport KNO via The Kashmir Walla. Police fired tear gas shells and used batons to stop them. Officials said there were "no reports of any casualty" PTI via Deccan Herald. No count of injured protesters was found in the reports reviewed. Videos showed police holding the camp's gates shut from outside The Quint.
Protesters' account
The march was against the killing of a colleague inside a secure office. Protesters said the administration was "lying about the situation in Kashmir" Tribune. Omar Abdullah of the National Conference called it "shameful that legitimate and justified protests" met a "heavy-handed response". Mehbooba Mufti said she was put under house arrest to stop her visiting the protesters; police refused to comment PTI via Deccan Herald.
Police and administration account
A police spokesman said the protesters broke barriers, pushed officers and ignored a magistrate's appeals, and that there were inputs militants "may attack the protesters in order to create communal clash/tension". Police said they were "constrained to finally hurl few teargas smokes" for the protesters' own security GNS via The Kashmir Walla. Officials also said "some miscreants" threw stones KNO via The Kashmir Walla.
On 15 May Sinha ordered an inquiry into the use of force. He said an SIT would probe the killing "along with probing use of force to disperse Kashmiri migrant protestors", and that "directions given to administration to not use force anywhere". The Chadoora SHO was removed, and Bhat's widow was offered a job Tribune. No outcome of that inquiry was found in public reporting. BJP J&K chief Ravinder Raina, heckled at Bhat's cremation in Jammu, called the employees' concerns "genuine" PTI via Deccan Herald.
Resignations: claimed and denied
Reports that about 350 employees had resigned spread on social media on 13 May. Budgam Deputy Commissioner Shahbaz Ahmed Mirza denied them and said no resignations had been received The Quint. On 26 July Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha that, according to the J&K government, no Kashmiri Pandit working under the package had resigned in protest PTI via Deccan Herald. In the same week an employees' leader, Ashwini Pandita, told The Tribune that nearly 2,000 had tendered resignations and that none had been accepted Tribune.
Timeline
Tear gas on the airport march
Police stop the march with tear gas and batons. Protests also held elsewhere in the Valley and in Jammu Tribune.
Rajni Bala killed; 24-hour warning
Employees threaten "mass migration" unless moved to safe places within 24 hours, asking for temporary relocation for "two to three years". Protests at Lal Chowk, Sonawar and on the highway at Qazigund PTI via Morung Express.
Order to move staff to "secured locations"
Sinha directs that all PM package and minority employees be posted at secured locations by 6 June. Transit camps are sealed off in several places Deccan Herald.
Bank manager killed; Shah reviews security
Union Home Minister Amit Shah chairs a meeting with the NSA, Army chief and LG. The J&K administration says employees will be moved to safer locations, not out of the Valley PTI via Business Standard.
Salaries stopped
The Labour Department and Anantnag's additional deputy commissioner order September salaries withheld for absent employees, on the strike's 133rd day Tribune.
Strike suspended
Employees end the 310-day strike, saying stopped salaries were "choking us financially" PTI via Tribune.
The LG administration's and the Centre's position
Government's position The administration rejected relocation outside the Valley and instead offered postings in safer places within it. In early June it began posting employees to what it called "safer zones", including 177 teachers ETV Bharat Deccan Herald. On 21 December 2022 Sinha set out the full case PTI via Kashmir Reader:
- "Almost all of them were transferred to district headquarters", with some at tehsil headquarters or villages near towns where their department required it.
- Minority employees would not be posted alone in any office, and grievance officers were appointed in every district and at Raj Bhavan.
- Deserving employees had been promoted. The "only one genuine issue" was housing: 1,200 secure flats by April and 1,800 more in the next financial year.
- "We have cleared their (protesting employees') salaries till August 31, but it cannot be done that they will be paid their salaries by sitting at their homes. This is a loud and clear message to them."
- Reserved category employees from Jammu were "Kashmir division employees and cannot be transferred to Jammu", though a committee would examine a policy.
Sinha also said pay continued until August because the employees "asked for a cooling period" Kashmir Life. The Centre's line in Parliament was that no PM package employee had resigned, that no Kashmiri Pandit had migrated from the Valley since August 2019, and that 6,000 transit flats had been approved PTI via Deccan Herald. Union Minister Jitendra Singh, speaking in December 2022, offered what he called a "personal opinion": "If there is a threat even to one life, it is better to save that life even if it means closing down a dozen offices" PTI via Kashmir Reader.
The protests move to Jammu
Hundreds of employees moved to Jammu and held regular protests at the relief commissioner's office. The All Migrant (Displaced) Employees Association Kashmir (AMEAK) led much of the agitation. In July 2022 five engineers were transferred to Jammu, which AMEAK welcomed while vowing to continue until every employee was relocated Tribune. Employees said in December that a TRF-linked blog had published lists of package employees and threatened their camps. One protester answered the LG: "It is better for the government to sack us all" The Kashmir Walla.
Two employees then asked the Central Administrative Tribunal in Srinagar to strike down the rules barring transfer outside the Valley, arguing they violated the right to life under Article 21 PTI via Kashmir Reader. No ruling on that petition was found in public reporting. The National Conference, PDP, AAP and Ghulam Nabi Azad all criticised the salary stoppage, and Ravinder Raina said officials may have misled the LG Kashmir Life.
On 4 February 2023 Sinha said many employees had resumed duty and pending salaries should be released. Protesters at Raj Bhavan, on day 280, said only "a few hundred" had returned, "under compulsion" PTI via Tribune. After Kashmiri Pandit Sanjay Sharma was killed in Pulwama on 26 February, employees protested again in Jammu Tribune.
We have projected our demand for relocation but the government neither accepted nor rejected our demand.
Ruban Saproo, AMEAK, on suspending the strike, March 2023 (PTI via Tribune)
Outcome
- Killings: Rahul Bhat (12 May), Rajni Bala (31 May) and Vijay Kumar (2 June 2022). Police said militants linked to the killings were later killed in encounters.
- Use of force: Tear gas and batons at Sheikhpora on 13 May. Officials reported no casualties. The LG ordered a probe; no findings were published in the reporting reviewed.
- Relocation: Refused. Employees were moved to district and tehsil headquarters inside the Valley; a few individual transfers to Jammu were reported.
- Salaries: Paid to 31 August 2022, then withheld for absent staff. Release was ordered in February 2023 for those who returned.
- Resignations: Up to 2,000 claimed by an employees' leader; the government said none were received or accepted.
Where things stand in 2026
In January 2024 package employees formed a PM Package Employees Coordination Committee to take their issues to the administration, saying they had "full faith" in the LG Tribune. Whether wages for the strike months were ever paid was not found in public reporting.
In August 2026 a threat letter attributed to the United Liberation Council, which PTI said is believed to be a Lashkar-e-Taiba front, named several employees and published their Jammu addresses and vehicle numbers. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called it "a matter of serious concern", and noted that security is the LG's responsibility PTI via Pioneer.
On 9 September 2026 employees protested at Press Colony, Srinagar, and set a 30 September deadline for secure transit housing, warning of an indefinite protest and hunger strike from 1 October Kashmir Life. The Pioneer reported that as of 31 May 2026, 4,648 of the 6,000 flats were complete, 3,257 allotted and 881 occupied Pioneer. An official update in mid-September put completed flats at 5,176 Deccan Chronicle. Government's position Omar Abdullah said not a single package employee in the Valley is homeless and that allotments would be made in phases IBTimes. Whether the 1 October hunger strike went ahead had not been reported in the sources found by 12 October 2026. The demand for relocation to Jammu has not been accepted.
Questions people ask
Who was Rahul Bhat?
He was a Kashmiri Pandit clerk in the revenue department, hired under the PM's package for Kashmiri migrants, and lived in the Sheikhpora transit camp in Budgam. Militants shot him inside the Chadoora tehsil office on 12 May 2022.
Who killed Rahul Bhat?
Police said two Pakistani militants who killed him were shot dead in Bandipora on 13 May 2022, and police sources blamed the TRF. In August 2022 police said Lateef Rather of the LeT/TRF was also involved. These are police claims; no trial has been reported.
What did the Kashmiri Pandit employees demand?
Temporary relocation to Jammu, or outside the Valley, until security improved. They also sought release of withheld salaries and, later, secure transit housing.
Why did the LG stop their salaries?
Manoj Sinha said the employees had been moved to safer postings, salaries were paid until 31 August 2022, and staff could not be paid "by sitting at their homes". The recruitment rules also bar transfer outside the Valley.
Did Kashmiri Pandit employees resign en masse?
An employees' leader said nearly 2,000 tendered resignations. The Budgam deputy commissioner and the Centre said no resignations were received or none had resigned in protest.
Was Rajni Bala a Kashmiri Pandit?
No. Early reports said so, but she was a Hindu teacher from Samba in the Jammu region. PTI and The Wire corrected the description.
Sources
- Deccan Herald: Kashmiri Pandit shot dead by militants in Kashmir's Budgam, 12 May 2022
- Tribune: Kashmiri Pandits protest killing of Rahul Bhat, demand transfer out of Kashmir, 13 May 2022
- Tribune: Protests across J&K over killing of Kashmiri Pandit govt staffer, 14 May 2022
- PTI via Deccan Herald: Police use batons, tear gas to quell protest, 13 May 2022
- The Kashmir Walla (KNO): Tear gas, lathi charge: KP march towards Srinagar airport foiled, 13 May 2022
- The Kashmir Walla (GNS): Protestors resorted to violence; tear-gassed for their safety, say police, 13 May 2022
- The Quint: Budgam deputy commissioner denies reports of mass resignations, 13 May 2022
- PTI via Deccan Herald: Amit Shah briefed about concerns of Kashmiri Pandit employees, 14 May 2022
- Tribune: Probe ordered into tear gas shelling on Kashmiri Pandit protesters, 15 May 2022
- PTI via Morung Express: Terrorists kill Hindu teacher in Kulgam; Pandits threaten mass migration, 31 May 2022
- The Wire: Terrorists shoot dead woman teacher in Kulgam, 31 May 2022
- Deccan Herald: Kashmiri Pandits prepare for another mass migration, 2 June 2022
- PTI via Tribune: Bank manager from Rajasthan shot dead in Kulgam, 2 June 2022
- PTI via Business Standard: Amit Shah reviews security situation in J&K, 3 June 2022
- ETV Bharat: 177 Kashmiri Pandit teachers transferred to safer locations, 4 June 2022
- Deccan Herald: There are no safer locations for us in Valley, say Kashmiri Pandit employees, 7 June 2022
- ANI via The Quint: Terrorists killed in Kulgam encounter, 16 June 2022
- PTI via Deccan Herald: No Kashmiri Pandit resigned from J&K govt job after terror attacks: Govt, 26 July 2022
- Tribune: 2,000 have quit jobs, claims KP association, 27 July 2022
- Tribune: Amid stir, 5 Kashmiri Pandits shifted to Jammu, 31 July 2022
- PTI via Outlook: Rahul Bhat's killer among 3 LeT terrorists trapped in Budgam, 10 Aug 2022
- Deccan Herald: TRF militants killed in Kashmir's Budgam district, 10 Aug 2022
- Tribune: On strike for months, Kashmiri Pandits' salaries to be withheld, 23 Sept 2022
- PTI via Kashmir Reader: No salaries to those sitting at home: LG's message, 22 Dec 2022
- The Kashmir Walla: KP employees hit out at LG over salary remark, 22 Dec 2022
- Kashmir Life: On striking KP, SC employees, LG Sinha, BJP not on same page, 25 Dec 2022
- PTI via Kashmir Reader: KP employees approach CAT challenging order prohibiting transfer, Dec 2022
- PTI via Tribune: Kashmiri Pandits protest outside Raj Bhavan for relocation, salaries, 14 Feb 2023
- Tribune: As killings continue, Kashmiri Pandits reiterate demand for relocation, 28 Feb 2023
- PTI via Tribune: PM package Kashmiri Pandit employees suspend 310-day strike, 5 Mar 2023
- Tribune: KP staff under PM package form panel to air grievances, 15 Jan 2024
- PTI via Pioneer: Kashmiri Pandit employees seek enhanced security; CM Omar calls for probe, 25 Aug 2026
- Kashmir Life: PM package employees set September 30 deadline over transit accommodation, 9 Sept 2026
- Pioneer: Kashmiri Pandit employees threaten strike over secure transit housing, 10 Sept 2026
- IBTimes: Fresh terror threat to Kashmiri Pandit employees, 11 Sept 2026
- Deccan Chronicle: 5,200 of 6,000 PM package flats ready, 16 Sept 2026