Pahalgam terror attack: A call for rice and a hero's silence
Hapatnar (Anantnag): In the remote Baisaran valley of Pahalgam in Kashmir's Anantnag district,
Syed Adil Hussain Shah
's phone kept ringing incessantly on Tuesday. His father, Syed Haidar Shah, was calling to instruct him to buy some rice — a routine request in their household where every day was a struggle against poverty. But the 30-year-old, a pony guide at Baisaran, popularly known as "Mini Switzerland," never picked up.
It was not until the family reached out to the local police that the shocking truth came to light — Adil had been killed, the only local casualty in the Pahalgam terrorist attack. As the family lost the lone breadwinner, a village committee is providing basic food to the family and visitors.
When TOI reached Adil's house on Thursday at Hapatnar, a sleepy village around 35 km from Pahalgam, relatives and villagers were mourning his death. The nondescript village had become a visiting place for top leaders of the state and national media. On Wednesday, CM Omar Abdullah attended his funeral.
Dr Sameer Siddiqui, head of Khanqah-e-Hyderi, Aishmuqam shrine, Anantnag, while visiting the family on Thursday, said that Adil is the face of new Kashmir. By making a sacrifice for the tourists, he proved to the entire country and the world that this is Kashmiriyat—sacrificing life for guests, he added.
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"I am shattered by the loss of my son who was taking care of the entire family like a pillar, but I am also proud knowing he gave his life to save others. 'Vo khuda ka bheja hua Farishta thaa' (he was an angel sent by GOD)," said Adil's father, Haider, as tears streamed down his face.
Sharing details of the ill-fated day, Haider Shah said Adil was the only breadwinner for the family. On that day, his mother, Babyjan, told him that there was nothing to eat at home and told him to ask Adil to bring some rice in the evening. According to him, on several occasions the family had nothing to eat for a second meal of the day. "I started calling him at around 2 pm, but he didn't take the call. Realising he must be busy with tourists, I asked my younger son, Naushad, in the evening to speak to Adil. When no response was received, Naushad went to the nearby police post, which informed us about the incident at around 7 pm," Haider added.
The poor financial condition of the family could be gauged from the fact that they were still living in a 40-year-old house made of mud, kutcha bricks, and wood. The total land owned by the family is around 2 Kanal, including the residence and agricultural land. The family is entirely dependent on labour work.
His father added that immediately after completing Class XII, Adil asked him to rest at home and chose to become a pony guide in Pahalgam for tourists as well as during the Amarnath Yatra. Naushad, who also does labour work, said that his brother used to leave home at 8 am and come back around 7 pm. He used to earn Rs 300 per round for taking tourists on two ponies of a local contractor for one round from Pahalgam to Baisaran. At most, he was earning Rs 600 in a day and sometimes nothing.
Naushad added that when he reached Srinagar hospital to collect Adil's body after the postmortem, one of the female tourists, who had also lost her family member, told him that he tried his best to save them by snatching a gun from the terrorists. "When we checked his body, it was found that he was shot at close range. There was a hole in his neck, bullets on his chest, and a portion of one of his shoulders was mutilated by bullet injuries. Injuries to his fingers suggested he might have tried to grab the barrel of the firing gun," Naushad added.
Haider said that several people visited them, but no instant financial help has been provided to them. He added that as of now, the family is being taken care of by the village committee but is not aware of what will happen to the family after Fatiha Khawani (last memorial prayers).
Adil's wife, Nazim, has been living separately at her father's house after the couple lost their girl child immediately after birth.
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