Pahalgam terror attack: Top must read stories from TOI

NEW DELHI: He was held at gunpoint and asked a chilling question: “Are you Hindu or Muslim?” He stayed silent, perhaps hoping silence could save him. Then came another demand — “Recite the kalma.” He couldn’t. “I am Hindu,” he began to say, but he never got to finish. A gunshot ended his life mid-sentence.

Another man, also Hindu, had expertise in Islamic scripture. That knowledge — once just an expression of shared culture — became his shield. In that horrifying moment, it saved his life.

The terror attack in Pahalgam has left a trail of unimaginable grief, claiming the lives of 28 innocent tourists and scarring families forever.

Eyewitnesses and survivors have begun to speak, their voices trembling with the weight of trauma. Their accounts, shared with TOI, capture the unspeakable horror of that day — a day when humanity was tested and fear reigned.

Here are 10 must read stories from TOI — each one a reminder of the lives lost, the families broken, and the courage found in the face of terror.

Assam prof recites Islamic verse, wife wipes off sindoor to bluff terrorists

Debasish Bhattacharya is well-versed in Islamic scripture. That knowledge helped the Hindu associate professor of Bengali in Silchar’s Assam University snatch life from the jaws of death during the terror strike in Pahalgam on Tuesday.

With a gun held against his head by one of the terrorists, the 58-year-old Bengali Brahmin was asked to recite the first kalma if he wanted to live. “Overwhelmed by fear, I began to chant the first kalma loudly. After some time, I realised the gunman had retreated, and we scrambled to a fence behind us. We climbed over it and fled into a jungle,” Bhattacharya said. Read full story

Florida-based techie fails to prove he’s Muslim, gunned down in front of family

Sohini Adhikary (37), the widow of Florida-based techie Bitan Adhikary, couldn't hold back her tears while recounting the horrific experience of the terror strike in which she lost her husband. Never did she imagine that the vacation to the picturesque valley would change her life forever. Read full story

Name’s Bharath, said Bengaluru techie, took bullet to head

"My name is Bharath," a 35-year-old Bengalurean said when a bunch of armed terrorists confronted him in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday. What was a matter for pride for techie Bharath Bhushan was enough for the anti-India terrorists to shoot him dead in cold blood. Read full story

Childhood friends from Pune on 1st holiday with families died together

It was a friendship that had survived most of life’s twists and turns. But on their first holiday together with their families, to beautiful Pahalgam, both Kaustubh Gunbote (58) and Santosh Jagdale (50) would be shot by terrorists, becoming the two casualties from Pune. Read full story

Indore man killed, ponywallahs save his son

Terrorists who wreaked mayhem at Pahalgam seem to have sent scouts to mingle with tourists for several minutes, as if doing a recce of targets. And when all hell broke loose, it was pony-wallahs who saved several lives, including that of an Indore youth whose father was killed. This haunting account of the Pahalgam terror attack comes from Indore’s Nathaniel family, who lost one of their own — Sushil — to the heinous crime. Read full story

Newlyweds fled on horseback with gunshots ringing in the air

Komal Soni was still teary-eyed and yet relieved when she boarded the flight out of Srinagar and reached Delhi airport, a day after the terrorist attack took place in Baisaran meadow, about 5km from Pahalgam. Her fingers clutched Mihir’s hand tightly as if letting go would bring the sounds back — shots, screams, and the silence that followed. Read full story

Too much salt can at times save lives, realises family from Kerala

The fried rice was too salty. So an 11-member Kerala family reordered lunch on the way to Pahalgam. That saved their lives. Alby George, his wife Lavanya, their children, Lavanya’s parents, and several cousins and their children had set out from Kochi on April 18. After arriving in Srinagar on April 19, they spent two days exploring Gulmarg and Sonmarg. Read full story

Landslides change course of group’s life

A group of 40 tourists, including Visakhapatnam couple V S Anand and Ratnam, were rerouted from Kashmir due to landslides on the Srinagar-Jammu highway — an unexpected detour that may have saved their lives. “Had things gone as planned, we’d have been in Pahalgam during the terror attack,” said Anand. “It’s a miracle .”The group from southern states was diverted to Amritsar and then Manali after weather alerts prompted the travel company to cancel the Kashmir leg. Tour guide Ashish Singhal called it the right decision in hindsight. Read full story

Slowed down by horses, 28 cheat death

Wishing for horses saved their lives. A group of 28 tourists — from Kolhapur, Sangli, Pune, and Ratnagiri — learnt this first hand when their wait for horses delayed their trip to Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadow on Tuesday afternoon. The group of 28 had gone to Kashmir on April 17. “If not for the delay, we’d have been at the attack site. The list of casualties would have had our names too,” said Anil Kurane from Kolhapur. Read full story

Didn’t get Swiss vacay visas in time, so they went on Kashmir honeymoon

Amid dancing, feasting and photoshoots, Karnal boy Lt Vinay Narwal and Gurgaon girl Himanshi got married in Mussoorie on April 16. Six days later, a picture of a dazed Himanshi slumped next to her husband’s body on a verdant meadow lined with pine trees in Pahalgam became the image of terrorism’s devastating fallout. Read full story