New Delhi: As terrorists sprayed bullets in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, Syed Adil Hussain Shah was trying to help a woman whose father had been killed escape the chaos. When he confronted the terrorists, he was shot and killed, his family has said.
The 28-year-old was one of the 26 people, including an Intelligence Bureau officer and an Indian Navy lieutenant, killed by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in the Baisaran meadows Tuesday.
Speaking to ThePrint over the phone, his brother Naushad said that people present at the attack site told the family that Adil was trying to help a woman, who had fallen on her father’s body, get up. “There was chaos everywhere. He wanted to get the woman out of there. As he was helping her, he had an argument with the killers. He confronted them about what they have gained by killing innocents. They opened fire on him while fleeing.”
As he spoke, the screams and wails of his family echoed in the background.
“He was shot in his chest and neck and died on the spot,” said Naushad.
On Wednesday afternoon, Adil was buried in his native village of Hapatnad, 25 km away in the Anantnag district.
“My mother has lost her voice. Our father is in shock. His wife collapsed when she heard the news,” Naushad said, adding, “it’s not just my brother. It’s all our brothers whom they killed mercilessly. They were tourists here, our brothers. We want justice not only for Adil but all of them.”
The 28-year-old worked as a daily wage labourer and earned around Rs 300 for helping tourists on horseback in the Baisaran Valley.
“He didn’t own the horses, he worked for different travel agents who owned them. For one round, he would get Rs 300. If he did two rounds, it would be Rs 600, but on most days, he could manage to do only one round due to the weather and the distance,” Naushad, who works as a tourist driver, said.
Adil was the eldest of the six siblings. He got married two years ago. “As the eldest one, he had the most burden on him. One of our sisters is yet to be married, and our other brother is very young,” Naushad added.
On Tuesday, he said, Adil went to Pahalgam for the first time in two days, after the weather cleared. Every morning, the 28-year-old would reach Pahalgam and ferry tourists on their ponies.
For hours after the attack, his family did not know his fate. “Around 4:30 pm, I got a call from my father through a neighbour’s phone. They were very worried. All of us kept calling Adil, but his number was off. In our hearts, we were hoping that even if he was there at the exact spot, he was safe or injured,” said Naushad.
He also tried to find his brother by sharing his photo in the Pahalgam taxi group, but to no avail. No verified information reached the family for hours because of confusion with his name. “We went to the local police station too, but they asked us to go home as they too didn’t know if he was too killed.”
It was only around 9 pm that the family learnt that Adil was among those who had been shot dead. “There was a local resident at the hospital who identified Adil and called us over,” Naushad said.
“The moment he said he had found Adil and that we should hurry, I knew my brother was dead,” the 27-year-old added. “My brother was killed because he fought with the terrorists. He must have angered them. In my heart, I feel he must have also seen something that they didn’t want him to see or identify.”
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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Even if the government doesn’t award him, he is a Mahavir Chakra awardee to me. Nara e Takbir, Allahu Akbar—death to India’s enemies.
He should be given the Padma bushman. He could have saved himself but he had humanity.