Two residents of Kolkata — Bitan Adhikari and Sameer Guha — had been tragically killed in the terrorist attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
India on Wednesday hit nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, targeting terrorist infrastructure there. The strike, dubbed Operation Sindoor, came two weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack.
After Operation Sindoor, Sharvari Guha, Sameer’s wife, told The Indian Express, “We wanted this air strike. We request the Government that they should not stop now — they should continue until terrorism is completely finished, so that what happened to us does not happen to anyone else. Our loss is irreplaceable. My daughter is still in trauma. This should never ever happen again. We were on a holiday; we could never have imagined that this would happen. We are thankful and happy for what the Government did.”
Subrata Ghosh, brother-in-law of Sameer Guha, told The Indian Express, “We were expecting that something would happen from the government, and now we are happy that at least some action has been taken. But we will be happier if the government keeps on taking such steps to completely eradicate terrorism.”
Sameer Guha, a 52-year-old Central government employee under the Ministry of Statistics, was killed in the same attack. A resident of Behala, he had been visiting Kashmir with his wife and daughter when the assailants struck.
Bitan Adhikari, 40, had travelled to Kashmir with his wife, Sohini Adhikari, 37, and their three-year-old son, Hridaan Adhikari, for an eight-day trip to the Valley starting April 16. They were scheduled to return to Kolkata on April 24.
Following Operation Sindoor, Sohini Adhikari said, “I am thankful to the Government. I have lost my husband. I had appealed for justice from the Government of India and they have taken action. But I just pray that no woman ever loses her ‘sindoor’ in this way. No wife or child should ever see what we had to witness. The Government should take very strict action against such terrorists.”
Bitan’s elder brother, Bibhu Adhikari, told The Indian Express, “The government should take all necessary action to completely wipe out terrorism, and we will welcome such steps as Indians. Many innocent people have lost their lives due to terrorist activity. Such steps should be taken so that nowhere in the country are innocent lives lost. Till now, I do not know if any of the terrorists who were there on that day have been caught or killed — this is probably just the initial step.”