What was meant to be the cherished final day of a family vacation in Kashmir, turned into a tragedy for the Guha family of Behala, Kolkata.
Sameer Guha, a Central government employee, had travelled to Jammu and Kashmur with his wife Shabri and their daughter, a Class 12 student. But their planned return to home on Wednesday never materialised as Sameer’s life was cut short in the Pahalgam terror attack on Tuesday afternoon.
News of the incident reached their Kolkata residence in the dead of night, around 3 am, plunging their home on Jagat Chowdhury Road into profound grief. Relatives had been desperately trying to reach Sameer after initial reports of the attack surfaced. Finally, the devastating call came from the family’s driver.
Shabri made a phone call of a few seconds to her brother. “Everything was over in an instant!”
“(They were saying) inko chorna nai hai inko chorna nai hai… and they killed my husband,” Shabri later told mediapersons.
Neighbours who spoke to Shabri and her daughter in the aftermath described their shock and inconsolable grief.
“(The daughter) told us that they suddenly heard gunshots in the distance and a few people surrounded them. As soon as they arrived, they told everyone to lie down on the ground. Everyone had guns in their hands. We all lay down in fear. Then the militants selectively shot a few people, all male, including Sameer. They said Modi ka aadmi hai (he is a Modi supporter)… and gunned him down,” Archana Gajendra, a neighbour of the Guhas, told mediapersons.
The Guha family’s trip, which began on April 16, was a planned getaway — Sameer’s first ever to Kashmir.
Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim visited the grieving family on Wednesday morning, offering relatives condolences and support. Sameer was not the only Bengali to fall victim to the attack: Bitan Adhikari, a resident of Baishnabghata Patuli in Kolkata, and Manish Ranjan Mishra, from Jhalda in Purulia, also lost their lives.
“It is a cowardly act. Very disappointing. Where was central intelligence? The Home Minister is a flop minister. They said after the abrogation of Article 370, Kashmir is safe. Everyone believed them and went for a vacation, now who shall take the responsibility?” asked Hakim.