Kanpur: They asked for his name. Then they killed him. After the terrorist gunned down 31-year-old Shubham Dwivedi in Pahalgam’s Baisaran, his wife Ashanya pleaded with them to kill her too. But they didn’t.
Ashanya related the incident to the rest of her family: When I told them to shoot me too, the terrorists said, we will not kill you, you go and tell Modi and the government… that is why we are leaving you.
When UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath came to meet the family Thursday, she met him wearing her husband’s shirt.
Dwivedi was among the 28 tourists who died in the terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam valley, the biggest such attack in the country after the 26/11 Mumbai carnage.
On Thursday, Dwivedi’s body was taken out of his ancestral house in Hathipur village as the neighbourhood echoed with shouts of “Pakistan murdabad” and “khoon ka badla khoon se (answer blood with blood)”. Hundreds of people stood outside his house, some with ‘Stop terrorism’ posters.
The body was brought from Kashmir to Lucknow late Wednesday night, from where a green corridor was created to take the last remains to his native village, Hathipur. A large number of PAC (Pradeshik Armed Constabulary) and police forces have been deployed outside his house, and the body cremated with state honours on the banks of the Ganga on Thursday.
When the news reached Dwivedi’s close friend Vanshika, she remained in shock for nearly two hours, unable to accept the reality. Then her friend’s body appeared before her.
“I still cannot believe that my best friend is no more. He was a very composed boy and maintained friendships with everyone very well,” she said, breaking down in tears in her Hathipur home.
Vanshika and Dwivedi studied BCom together at Kanpur’s Jagran College of Arts, Science and Commerce. “He was very fond of travelling. He knew very well how to maintain a balance between friendship, family, and life. He was an inspiration for all of us—very talented, and fond of taking pictures with his friends.”
Jagran College paid tribute to its alumnus through a Facebook post.
“It is with profound sorrow we grieve over the untimely death of our dear alumnus Shubham Dwivedi (B.Com 2012-2015), who felt victim to the barbarous terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir,” the post read.
At Dwivedi’s school, Guru Har Rai Academy, a two-minute silence was observed Thursday.
In his last video, which he sent to his brother, Dwivedi was seen playing cards with his family in the hotel room at Pahalgam. He can be heard saying “I will defeat everyone.”
Dwivedi was to return from Kashmir on 23 April. On the trip, he was with 11 family members, including Ashanya, father, sister, and in-laws. While Dwivedi and Ashanya had gone to the upper part of Baisaran valley, the rest of the family members stayed back. The duo had got married just two months ago in February.
A video from Pahalgam
Vanshika had talked to Dwivedi before he went on his honeymoon. He was happy that his entire family was accompanying him. “He loved being with his family,” she said.
Shubham Dwivedi‘s father Sanjay Dwivedi is a cement businessman in Kanpur and lives with his family in Shyamnagar, Kanpur. Shubham was his only son.
“We 11 people went on a trip with great joy but have returned without our son,” he said at the cremation ground at Dhori Ghat, Kanpur.
Shubham Dwivedi had big dreams to take his father’s cement business to new heights. He joined the family business after finishing his MBA in 2018. His Facebook profile reads that he was the director at Chandan Traders and a sales promoter at UltraTech Cement.
His last Facebook post, from 22 March, says, “All you need is love.” The timeline is dotted with photos from his travels.
Saurabh Dwivedi, Shubham’s cousin, said that his family members in Kanpur received a video from Sanjay. “A dead body was visible in the video. A woman was shouting in the background – save me, save my husband,” Saurabh said.
While five members of the family had gone for a walk in the upper areas of the valley, six of them had stayed back. Sanjay Dwivedi, part of the group that stayed back, received the call from his daughter-in-law—Shubham had been shot.
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‘Won’t spare terrorists’
On Thursday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath met Shubham Dwivedi’s family for about 20 minutes. Yogi’s arrival was marked by the slogans of “Pakistan murdabad”.
Sanjay said that Yogi has assured the family of strict action. We have already lost our son but strict action should be taken against those who did this, CM Yogi said.
On Wednesday, India imposed five strict sanctions on Pakistan, which include suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, cutting staff from the Pakistan High Commission, and closing the Attari border.
But Sanjay Dwivedi is convinced Pakistan is not going to change. Strict military action should be taken and all the terrorists should be killed; only then will such incidents not happen, he said.
“Those who ruined the sindoor of our daughters will not be spared. Strict action will be taken against terrorists, and the double-engine government has a zero tolerance policy,” Yogi said.
Dwivedi also raised questions on the security arrangements in Pahalgam. There was not a single policeman present in the valley where the family went for a walk, he said.
“We businessmen pay the highest taxes, but we have no security. It is absolutely true that if there had been security, my son would not have died.”
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)