"They Killed Him": Wife Of Pahalgam Terror Victim Recalls Horror

NDTV

24-04-2025

Kanpur:
As the nation bids farewell to its loved ones who lost their lives in the Pahalagam terror attack, survivors of the attack that took place in the Baisaran valley meadow on April 22 recollect the horrific ordeal. Eshanaay, wife of Shubham Dwivedi, one among the 26 victims, said that they had sat down for a meal when a man appeared from behind and asked them about their religion.
"We gave an order for Maggi, then Shubham and I sat down. Dad was also in the bathroom. At that time, one person came from behind and he asked, 'Are you a Hindu or Muslim?' If you are a Muslim, then you first read the Kalma'. We didn't even know, we looked back to see what was happening," the wife said. "They asked me whether he is Hindu or muslim, I told them Hindu, they killed him. The first shot was on him."
A pall of gloom descended on Kanpur when the body of Shubham reached his native village in Kanpur on Thursday morning.
Sanjay Dwivedi, a resident of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is still grappling with the loss of his son, Shubham Dwivedi, who was killed in the recent Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. According to Mr Dwivedi, his son, along with his wife and sister-in-law, had visited a scenic spot known as "mini Switzerland" in Pahalgam.
Mr Dwivedi said that Shubham's wife, who survived the attack, asked the terrorists to kill her as well. However, they spared her life to use her as a witness to convey a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The family had stopped at a restaurant 7 km before reaching the destination. While they were having snacks, terrorists arrived and asked about their religious identity. After learning that Shubham was a Hindu, the terrorists shot him in the head.
Recounting the horror, Mr Dwivedi told ANI, "...My son, his wife, and sister-in-law went to a place called 'mini Switzerland', which is at a high altitude, and we stopped at a restaurant, 7 km before that place. They were having some snacks when the terrorists came. They asked about whether you are Hindu or Muslin, and after that, they shot my son in the head. My daughter-in-law asked them to kill her as well, but they didn't. They told him that we are leaving you alive so that you can tell Modi about all this. We met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Srinagar, and we have told him what we want."
In a heartbreaking response to the Pahalgam terror attack, his father demanded the harshest possible action against the perpetrators, asserting that "action should be so severe that their seven generations would never dare to kill anyone again."
"Strict action should be taken against the terrorists. They (terrorists) said to my daughter-in-law that we are not killing you so that you can tell it to Modi. Action should be so severe that their seven generations would never dare to kill anyone again," said Sanjay Dwivedi, the father of the dead, Shubham Dwivedi.