Biggest victims of Pahalgam attack are Kashmir’s economy and its dreams of statehood

“MERI BETI KO KUCH MAT KARNA (please don’t harm my daughter),” she pleaded with folded hands, while her children―a son and a daughter―wept beside her. “Don’t worry, we are the Indian Army,” the soldier told her. “We are here to help you.” The woman broke down, saying: “Mere pati ko maar diya (my husband has been killed).”

 

In the wake of the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, security personnel rushed to the site, only to be met with traumatised tourists. The local people who helped the evacuation efforts told THE WEEK about the survivor who mistook a soldier for a militant.

 

Baisaran, a scenic meadow about four kilometres from Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, had been bustling with tourists, ponywallahs and local people. Known as “Mini Switzerland”, the area is surrounded by pine forests and towering mountains and is accessible only on foot or by pony. After several days of rain, the weather had finally cleared up and the tourists were enjoying the sunshine.

 

Around 2:45pm, militants dressed in combat uniforms entered the meadow. They separated the women and children from the crowd before opening fire on the men. At first, many, including the tourist police, guides, ponywallahs and food stall owners, were confused by the sound of gunfire echoing across the meadow. But as screams broke out, panic spread. People fled in all directions. Several tourists were injured in the stampede that followed.

 

The attackers shot their victims at close range. Some were hit in the arms and legs. Survivors later said the militants asked for the names of their targets before opening fire. They remained in the area for about 20 minutes before disappearing into the forest.

 

In recent years, many militants, including foreign nationals, have shifted their bases to the hills of Kashmir. A similar strategy has been observed in Jammu’s Rajouri, Poonch, Kathua, Doda and Udhampur. In the past four years, over 50 security personnel have died in attacks by hill-based perpetrators. The militants often vanish into the forested terrain. The Pir Panjal range, separating Rajouri and Poonch from south Kashmir, has emerged as a key corridor for militant movement.

 

Waseem Khan from the tourist police said the entire meadow was gripped by fear after the attack. “We were very nervous,” he said. “Injured people were lying on the ground, including a few local people. The ponywallahs, shawl sellers and shopkeepers carried the wounded to safety during the stampede.” Tourist guides familiar with the terrain used shorter trails to rush the injured back to Pahalgam. From there, they were taken to the Government Medical College (GMC) in Anantnag, about 40km away. Several seriously injured people were later shifted to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar.

 

Among the survivors under treatment at the GMC were Simran Roop Chandni from Maharashtra and Vinu Bhai from Gujarat. Both recounted the terrifying incident. “We (her group) reached Baisaran on pony-back around 2:30pm,” said Simran. “After a short stroll, we were about to leave when people suddenly started fleeing. We didn’t understand what was happening. Everyone was shouting of an attack.” As Simran ran, she heard gunfire. “People began pushing each other to escape,” she said. “But not everyone could run quickly―some had children and elderly family members.” Simran, who suffered a fractured leg, said her group had a narrow escape.

 

Vinu said the firing began about 10 minutes after his group arrived. “People ran in all directions,” he said. “I was hit in the right arm. At first, the firing was intermittent, but then it became continuous.”

 

The attack triggered panic across Pahalgam, with many tourists cutting short their trips and rushing to Srinagar. The Centre arranged additional flights for tourists wanting to return home. The Indian Railways, too, started a special train to Delhi to assist stranded passengers and accommodate the exodus of tourists.

 

The attack, which reportedly killed at least 26 people, was the deadliest in Kashmir since February 14, 2019, when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber struck a CRPF convoy in Pulwama killing 40 personnel. Observers said the Pahalgam massacre is even more disturbing because it targeted unarmed civilians. Among the victims were tourists from 12 states―Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. One victim was reportedly from Nepal.

 

Disturbing visuals quickly spread on social media. One showed a young woman in a suede jacket and black trousers sitting beside the body of her husband. A red bangle hinted that they were newly married. In a trembling voice, she told locals they were having bhel puri when her husband was shot. “The gunman said my husband was not Muslim and then shot him,” she said. She was later identified as Himanshi, wife of Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, a Navy officer from Haryana posted in Kochi. The couple were on their honeymoon in Kashmir.

 

An Intelligence Bureau officer―Manish Ranjan―from Bihar, posted in Hyderabad, was also among those dead. So were an excise department officer and, reportedly, an Indian Air Force officer.

 

One of the deceased, Manjunath Rao, a real estate businessman from Shivamogga, Karnataka, had arrived in Kashmir with his wife, Pallavi, and their son Abhijeya, to celebrate the boy’s 98 per cent score in his exams. On Tuesday morning, he called home to say they were safe after a cloudburst. By evening, he had been shot dead.

 

Pallavi said she and her son confronted the militants, asking them to kill them, too, and that one of the militants said, “We won’t kill you. Go tell Modi.” Three local men helped Pallavi and Abhijeya descend the hill on foot, reciting “Bismillah”―uttered at the start of an undertaking―along the way.

 

Shocked by the massacre, Kashmir observed a complete shutdown. In a rare show of unity, political parties, religious leaders, trade bodies, travel associations and civil society groups condemned the attack. Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was the first to appeal for a bandh. The National Conference supported the call. Religious leaders also spoke out. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, head of the Mutahida Majlis Ulema, called the killings “a heinous crime” and said the attack went against the teachings of Islam and humanity. There were protests across Jammu and Kashmir.

 

The J&K administration announced Rs10 lakh as ex gratia for the families of victims.

 

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, after expressing his anguish over the attack, promised that India would come down heavily on the perpetrators.

 

This is not the first time tourists have been targeted in and around Pahalgam. On July 4, 1995, six foreign tourists and their two guides were kidnapped by the outfit Harkat-ul-Ansar, operating under the name Al-Faran. Norwegian Hans Christian Ostrø was beheaded on August 13, when demands to release jailed militants were not met. American John Childs escaped, but the others were never found and were declared dead in 2003.

 

On March 20, 2000, 35 Sikh villagers were massacred in Chittisinghpura, Anantnag, during US president Bill Clinton’s visit to India. In 2002, militants attacked the Amarnath Yatra twice, killing 11 people. These attacks were blamed on Lashkar-e-Taiba’s front group Al Mansuriya.

 

The latest attack, which has been attributed to The Resistance Front―said to be an LeT proxy―has worsened Kashmir’s security situation and is likely to harm both tourism, which supports thousands of local jobs, and efforts to restore statehood. All eyes are now on how the Centre will respond.

 

―With Prathima Nandakumar

The Week