A powerful and tragic image of a young woman holding her wounded husband has become the face of the Pahalgam terror attack that shocked Kashmir. The couple, reportedly on their honeymoon, were caught in the middle of the ruthless attack.
Navy lieutenant Vinay Narwal and his wife, Himanshi, a school teacher, are the couple shown in the photo that illustrated the tragedy at a picturesque meadow in Kashmir after terrorists opened fire on tourists.
India on Wednesday suspended the Indus Water Treaty and announced downgrading diplomatic ties with Pakistan including expulsion of its military attaches in view of cross-border links to the Pahalgam terror attack. The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a media briefing. The Integrated Check Post at Attari will be closed with immediate effect, he said. Those who have crossed over with valid endorsements may return through that route before May 1, he said. Misri said “the defence, military, naval and air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi are declared Persona Non Grata.” They have a week to leave India, he said. India will be withdrawing its own defence, navy and air advisors from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. “These posts in the respective High Commissions are deemed annulled. Five support staff of the Service Advisors will also be withdrawn from both High Commissions,” he said.
Meanwhile, Indian security forces have launched a massive hunt for militants suspected of attacking men at the tourist destination in Kashmir. The attack, carried out by terrorists at Kashmir’s Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on Tuesday, is one of the deadliest in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
India’s Cabinet Committee on Security met on Wednesday evening under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day after the dastardly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam killed at least 28 people and injured several others.
“Last night, we carried out a counter-infiltration operation”, Brigadier Mayank Shukla, Commander of 161 Infantry Brigade, told reporters. “Terrorists’ movement near the LOC was tracked, and when they crossed the LOC at around 3 am, we ambushed and neutralised two terrorists after a firing that went on for two hours. Search operations were carried out in this dense forest by our security forces. The Jammu and Kashmir police are trying to identify them. Their weapons were recovered – 2 AK rifles, one 9mm Chinese pistol, magazines and large quantities of ammunition. Additionally, one 10kg IED has also been recovered…”, Brigadier Shukla said.
Modi vowed that those behind the attack “will not be spared”, and cut short his trip to Saudi Arabia, returning to India on Wednesday to hold a meeting with senior officials, including the national security adviser. Home (Interior) Minister Amit Shah visited the site of the attack on Wednesday morning and also met relatives of the victims.
At least 17 people were also injured in the shooting that took place in the Himalayan federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Among the dead – all men – are 25 Indians and one Nepalese national. Baisaran valley is a popular tourist spot in the Himalayan territory that is touted to be a mini-Switzerland because of the lush pine forests that surround it and its pristine landscape. Pahalgam, which means “valley of shepherds” in Kashmiri, is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the region, located about 50km [31 miles] from the main city of Srinagar. On Tuesday, witnesses told Al Jazeera that the area was bustling with tourists.
At about 2:45pm, a group of armed men in camouflage clothes emerged from a nearby forest, an official said, requesting anonymity to discuss details that security forces have not made public. The attackers “opened indiscriminate fire at Baisaran meadow, a scenic uphill area accessible only by foot or pony rides,” the official said. Many tourists were caught off guard as the sudden volley of bullets rang out. The tourists killed were almost all civilians.
Security forces rushed to the Pahalgam area soon after the attack and began combing the forests there, two security sources told Reuters. About 100 people, suspected to have been militant sympathisers in the past, were called to police stations and questioned, they added.
Police also released sketches of three of the four suspected attackers, who were dressed in traditional long shirts and loose trousers and one of them was wearing a bodycam, one security source said. There were about 1,000 tourists and about 300 local service providers and workers in the valley when the attack took place, he said.
Across the nation— the reaction is the same: silence, disbelief, and mourning. Entire communities have been left reeling.
Indian Navy Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, who was killed in the terror attack was laid to rest on Wednesday. The 26-year-old lieutenant of the Indian Navy, was killed while on his honeymoon, six days after the couple tied the knot in Mussoorie.
Syed Adil Hussain Shah, a local horse rider was the sole provider for his family. Adil, 32-year-old rider, wasn’t a tourist; he was one of Kashmir’s own — a man who saddled up horses for visitors, offering them rides through the stunning slopes of Baisaran. “We called his phone when we heard about the firing,” said his father, Syed Haider Shah, his voice trembling as he recalled the hours of helpless waiting. “It was switched off. Later, it rang once, but nobody answered. We rushed to the police station. That’s where they told us… my son had been martyred.” Adil’s family lives in modest conditions — no riches, no safety nets. His work as a horse rider was their only income. Now, his wife, children, elderly parents, and relatives are left shattered, not just by grief but by the uncertainty of what comes next. “He was our only support,” cried his mother, barely able to speak through her tears. “He fed us, clothed us, did everything. Now, we have nothing.” Relatives and neighbours from the region echoed the same pain, and a shared feeling of betrayal. “Adil represented the real Kashmir — hardworking, peace-loving,” said Mohiddin Shah, a relative. “And yet he was gunned down like his life meant nothing. This isn’t just a tragedy, it’s a wound on our Kashmiriyat.” The Shah family is now pleading for help — financial, emotional, and most of all, judicial. “We want justice,” his father said. “We want answers. Why was an innocent Kashmiri man killed? Who will now take care of his family?”
Just two days into a long-awaited family vacation, Sushil Nathaniel’s dream of seeing Kashmir to celebrate Easter with family, turned into a nightmare that would haunt his loved ones forever. The 50-year-old Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) branch manager from Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh, had long yearned to visit the “heaven on earth.” “He finally made it there… but he’ll never come back,” said Sanjay Kumrawat, Sushil’s cousin, his voice cracking over the phone from Indore.
According to family accounts, when the terrorists began firing indiscriminately, Sushil instinctively shielded his wife, pushing her behind a tree to protect her. In those split seconds, he acted not just as a husband, but as a guardian. Tragically, his protective instincts could not save him.
The family believes Sushil was specifically targeted for being a Christian. “His son told us the terrorists asked him to recite the Kalma and when he couldn’t, they shot him,” Kumrawat recounted, his disbelief still raw.
“This wasn’t just an attack. It was a hate crime.” Sushil’s daughter, Akanksha, who works with Bank of Baroda in Surat, sustained a bullet wound in the leg but is out of danger. She had watched the horror unfold. His son Austin, still a student, is now left to grapple with a loss too large for his young years. The family, shattered and furious, is pleading for justice and demanding accountability. “He died a martyr, but why should our people be gunned down simply because they believe differently?” said Sushil’s aunt Susan from Jobat, overcome with grief and fury. As preparations began in Indore for Sushil’s last rites, his community remembered him not just as a dedicated LIC officer, but as a loving father, a caring husband, and a man who gave everything for his family—even his life.
A 68-year-old former banker from Pandurangapuram in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, who was visiting the region with his wife, was also killed. The deceased also included a realtor from the southern state of Karnataka, an accountant from the eastern state of Odisha, a cement dealer from Uttar Pradesh in the north, and a Gulf-returnee from the southern state of Kerala.
The attack comes at a time when Kashmir sees a particularly high footfall of tourists because of the spring season, and authorities say about 1,000 people were in the area when the militants opened fire.
The attack is seen as a setback to what Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have projected as a major achievement in revoking the semi-autonomous status Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed and bringing peace and development to the long-troubled Muslim-majority region.
A little-known militant group, the “Kashmir Resistance,” claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media message. It expressed discontent that more than 85,000 “outsiders” had been settled in the region, spurring a “demographic change”.
In a fresh statement on Wednesday, the group said that the “individuals targeted were not ordinary tourists; instead, they were linked to and affiliated with Indian security agencies” and said it would step up its activities.
“It was not a typical tourist group but rather an undercover agency tasked with research,” it said and added that the attack should “serve as a wake-up call not only for Delhi but also for those who support Delhi’s questionable strategies”.
On Wednesday, over a dozen local organisations called for a shutdown in the federal territory to protest against the attack on tourists, whose rising numbers have helped the local economy.
Many schools also suspended classes for the day in protest.
The shutdown was total and protesters turned out in several locations shouting slogans such as “Stop killing innocents”, “Tourists are our lives”, “It is an attack on us”.
“I want to say to the people of the country that we are ashamed, Kashmir is ashamed,” former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said in a statement. “We are standing with you in this time of crisis.”
Airlines were operating extra flights from Srinagar, the summer capital of the territory, as visitors were rushing out of the region, officials said.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the exodus of our guests,” serving Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on X, adding that the main highway connecting Srinagar to the rest of the country which was damaged by heavy rain had been opened for one-way traffic out of Srinagar to help tourists leaving by road.
India has in the past accused Islamist militant groups based in Pakistan, which it says are trained and supported by the establishment in Islamabad, for attacks in India, including those in Mumbai.
Pakistan denies the accusations and says it only provides moral, political and diplomatic support to the insurgency in Kashmir.
Officials have released the following helpline numbers: Emergency Control Room – Srinagar: 0194-2457543, 0194-2483651; 7006058623; 24/7 Tourist Help Desk – Police Control Room, Anantnag 9596777669, 01932-225870, WhatsApp: 9419051940; Jammu and Kashmir Tourist Department – 8899931010, 8899941010, 9906663868, 9906906115.
(Agencies; Picture Courtesy: PTI)
