Grief as Bodies of Pahalgam Victims Return Home

With tearful eyes and hearts heavy with grief, the families of the Pahalgam terror attack victims received their loved ones’ bodies on Thursday. The brutal assault at Baisaran meadow in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag on Tuesday claimed 26 lives, mostly tourists, marking the deadliest attack in the Valley since Pulwama in 2019.

Among the victims were tourists from different parts of the country and a Nepali national. Officials first brought their bodies in coffins to Srinagar, where Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid wreaths, before flying them to their hometowns.

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Airlines operated more than 50 flights from Srinagar to ferry tourists and bodies of the victims to their destinations, along with 123 accompanying family members.

Heartfelt Farewells

Officials brought Navy officer Vinay Narwal’s remains from Kashmir to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Wednesday afternoon, then transported them to his hometown in Karnal, Haryana. His family held his last rites with full military honours.

The 26-year-old officer had married just a week earlier and was on his honeymoon when terrorists shot him at point-blank range in front of his wife, Himanshi.

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Thousands of people, including Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, attended his funeral in Karnal.

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Family and Friends Mourn Across the Country

The remains of Shubham Dwivedi, a 31-year-old businessman from Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur, reached Lucknow on Wednesday night. Terrorists killed him in front of his wife, just two months after their wedding.

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He had gone to Kashmir on a week-long vacation on April 16 with his wife, parents, sister, brother-in-law, and her sister’s in-laws. An ambulance has transported his body to Kanpur, where the cremation will take place later in the day.

Officials brought Mr. Dwivedi’s remains along with those of the Nepalese national, Sudip Neupane, who also died in the Pahalgam terror attack.

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Officials brought the body of Sushil Nathaniel, a manager at the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, to the city from Kashmir on Wednesday night. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav was among those who paid tributes to him at the airport.

Mr Yadav said that his wife told him that terrorists had asked Mr Nathaniel, a Christian, to recite the ‘Kalma’ — a declaration of faith that forms the core beliefs of Muslims — before shooting him dead.

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Tributes and Final Goodbyes from Across States

The bodies of three tourists from Gujarat also reached Ahmedabad and Surat. Shailesh Kalathiya, a resident of Surat, and Yatish Parmar and his son, Smit, from Bhavnagar, were among those killed in the Pahalgam attack.

A flight from Mumbai carried the remains of Mr Parmar and Smit to Ahmedabad airport, while another flight brought Mr Kalathiya’s body to Surat airport on Wednesday night. The same flight also brought Mr Kalathiya’s wife and two children, who survived the attack, to Surat.

At Surat airport, Union Minister CR Paatil and other dignitaries paid floral tributes to Mr Kalathiya.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel is in Bhavnagar to attend the last rites of Mr Parmar and his son.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also attended the funeral.

“Our tears have dried up,” Mr Mone’s sister-in-law said as his remains arrived in the city from Mumbai.

A flight brought the bodies of two Pune-based tourists to the city early Thursday morning.

Mr Ganbote, his wife, Sangita and Jagdale, his wife, Pragati, and their daughter, Asavari, were holidaying in Kashmir.

They have taken Mr. Rao’s body to his hometown, Shivamogga, while they will cremate Mr. Bhushan in Bengaluru.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday night received the remains of the state resident JS Chandramouli.

“Heartbreaking to witness a life so brutally snatched away, leaving a family to face an unimaginable loss. In an instant, everything changed for them,” he posted on X after paying tributes to Mr Chandramouli in Visakhapatnam.