SRINAGAR/JAMMU: Amid grief and disbelief, two households — one from Kashmir’s Budgam district and the opposite from Jammu — discover themselves sure by an unimaginable tragedy. What was meant to be a festive time of Karva Chauth for architectural designer Shashi Bhushan Abrol’s spouse and kids, and a hopeful return to routine life for Dr Shahnawaz Ahmed Dar’s household, has now turn out to be a interval of mourning and shattered goals.
Sunday’s terrorist assault in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district robbed them of their family members, plunging moments of pleasure into an abyss of sorrow. Abrol and Dar have been workers of development firm APCO Infratech and among the many seven killed on the Z-Morh tunnel campsite on the Srinagar-Leh freeway.
In Naidgam village of Budgam, the air was heavy with grief as 52-year-old Dar was laid to relaxation in his ancestral graveyard Monday. His household — his mom, spouse, and three youngsters — remained shocked by the loss. “My son, the place have you ever gone?” wailed his mom.
Some of the heartbreaking moments got here from his teenage son Mohsin Dar, who revealed how his father had been his biggest supporter. “I wished to turn out to be an IAS officer, and he had promised to assist me fulfill this dream. Now that dream is gone,” he mentioned.
The timing of the doctor’s dying added one other layer of heartbreak — simply days earlier, he had celebrated the marriage of his daughter. He had been scheduled to return house to Budgam to take part in after-wedding ceremonies, however destiny had different plans.
The loss has shaken your complete neighborhood. “Dr Sahib was a person of honour, knowledgeable who served us with humility and religion,” mentioned Ghulam Mohammad Dar, an area elder. “We have been simply celebrating his daughter’s marriage ceremony, and now we’re mourning his dying.”
The village condemned the attackers and known as for justice. “This loss is not only private; it’s a blow to humanity,” mentioned a resident. “Those accountable should be delivered to justice.”
Over 300km away, the Abrol household in Jammu is grappling with the identical nightmare. Shashi Abrol’s spouse Ruchi had saved a Karva Chauth quick, praying for her husband’s lengthy life. However as a substitute of breaking her quick with a loving dialog, she obtained information of his dying.
Ruchi, her voice choked with grief, recounted her final dialog along with her husband. “He known as me within the night, and all the pieces appeared regular. I advised him I’d name once more after ending the temple rituals. However after that, his telephone went silent.”
It was solely late that night time — as Ruchi eagerly waited for a video name from her husband to interrupt the quick — that the household realized of the tragedy by means of media studies. “We have been all making an attempt to consolation her, however we had no thought what had occurred,” Ruchi’s sister-in-law Divya mentioned.
Married for 20 years, Shashi leaves behind his dad and mom, spouse, and two youngsters.
The household is left with not solely their grief but additionally sensible challenges. “Shashi was the only real breadwinner,” mentioned his father Jagdish Raj Abrol. “His spouse is an easy housewife. How will she elevate the kids alone?”
Divya mentioned Shashi’s dream was to see his son turn out to be an engineer. “He final got here house two months in the past to assist together with his son’s engineering school admission. His greatest hope was to see him succeed, however now all the pieces is unsure.”
Within the midst of their ache, the Abrol and Dar households shared the identical plea: that these accountable for this tragedy be held accountable, and that the federal government prolong assist to assist them rebuild wrecked lives. Nonetheless, they know no quantity of justice can change the fathers, sons, and husbands they misplaced — males whose love, goals, and hopes for his or her households have been stolen in a second of mindless violence.
