A couple in their 40s moved from their remote village to a rented accommodation in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch town with a hope to provide better education to their 12-year-old twin children, but fate had something else stored for them.
More than two months after being admitted to a school, the two children -- Zain Ali and Urwa Fatima -- now lay buried in a graveyard adjacent to their house while their father Rameez Khan is recuperating at the Government Medical College, Jammu.
The tragedy struck the family on May 7 when they found themselves in the middle of intense Pakistani shelling at their rented accommodation in Poonch which was badly hit by the cross-border shelling.
Pakistan army launched the heavy shelling soon after Indian armed forces carried out a missile strike on terror infrastructure in the neighbouring country in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Of the total 28 deaths in Jammu and Kashmir due to the cross-border shelling, over 20 fatalities were reported from the Poonch and Rajouri districts. Besides, large scale damage was caused to houses and places of worship.
“They were moving in search of a safer place when a shell exploded in the compound of their rented accommodation, resulting in on-the-spot death of the girl and critical injuries to father-son duo. The boy also breathed his last within minutes of the incident while being evacuated to hospital,” Khan's brother-in-law Adil Pathan told PTI.
He said it was the girl who came five minutes before her brother in this world 12 years ago and that she died almost five minutes before her brother.
“They celebrated their 12th birthday recently and were happy about their new school where they had got admission in class 5. They called me on the fateful day, frightened and in panic,” Pathan said.
Mohammad Farooq, another relative of Khan, said they never witnessed such a fierce cross-border shelling.
“This is a big tragedy for our family. Khan was working as a library assistant in a government school in Mandi,” he said, adding the family's dreams shattered in the Pakistani shelling.
The relatives lauded Khan's wife Urusa Fatima for presenting a brave face to meet the tragedy.
“She performed the last rites of her children and is standing with her husband who does not know anything about the children's death,” Pathan said, adding Khan gained consciousness on Saturday when India and Pakistan reached the understanding to end the four-day-long conflict and observe a ceasefire.
Pathan said the injured father is regularly asking about his children but “how long can we hide the reality from him?
Khan is going to be discharged from the hospital soon, he said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reached out to the family on Monday and expressed his sympathy with them.
“They are enveloped in grief and I am here only to offer my condolences, sympathies and support to the administration. They raised no demand. This is a tragic time for the family,” Abdullah had said.
Leaders of various political parties including the Congress and the BJP also visited the grieving family to express their sympathies over the tragic loss of lives.
Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Safeer Choudhary, meanwhile, organized a programme here to pay tributes to the Pakistani shelling victims.
Choudhary also released a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on behalf of civil society of the Pir Panjal region, seeking martyr status to those killed in Pakistani shelling and financial support to their families.
The letter also requested for a special package for Pir Panjal region and the establishment of a Government Medical College in Poonch.
This would greatly enhance healthcare accessibility for the local population and serve as a lasting tribute to the fallen heroes, Choudhary said.
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