He died like a brave soldier: Vinay Narwal's father

Chandigarh | "He was a very good child...He died like a brave soldier," Indian Navy officer Lt Vinay Narwal's father said about his son, who was among the 26 people killed in the Pahalgam terror attack.

"It is a mountain of sorrow. Unrepairable, unbearable and untolerable loss for me and my family," he said Thursday about the tragic loss.

However, he added that the entire country is standing with his family and families of others who lost their lives in the Pahalgam incident on Tuesday.

Married just about a week ago, 26-year-old Narwal, accompanied by his wife Himanshi, was on a honeymoon in Pahalgam when terrorists shot him at point blank. His last rites were held in Karnal last evening.

Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar went to meet the bereaved family in their home in Karnal on Thursday. While consoling Narwal's grandfather Hawa Singh, Khattar broke into tears.

When reporters asked Narwal's father Rajesh Kumar about his son, he said when Narwal was into the third year of his engineering, he expressed desire to join the defence forces as an officer.

Although he was keen to become a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force, ultimately he secured a job in the Indian Navy after clearing the exam in his first attempt, he said.

"He was a dashing officer, outstanding and a brilliant student," said Kumar, a government employee.

He also complimented the Jammu and Kashmir government and the local administration there for extending all required help after the incident.

Vinay Narwal's sister Srishti said her brother was everything to her and will always remain so.

On Thursday, scores of people reached Narwal's home to offer condolences.

Just days before the Pahalgam incident, relatives, neighbours and others had been thronging Narwal's Karnal residence to be part of the joyous occasion of the young Naval officer's marriage.

Speaking to reporters after meeting the Narwal family, Khattar, while strongly condemning the terror attack incident, said, "Today the countries of the world are standing with us against terrorism in this matter and India will definitely do whatever is necessary to suppress terrorism and to take revenge of these incidents."

Kumar, when asked what message he has for Pakistan and those indulging in incidents of terror, said, "This is a matter pertaining to my country and the government is doing its job."

Khattar, who is BJP MP from Karnal and former Haryana chief minister, said he strongly condemns the terror attack incident, which he called "shameful".

"This is unbearably sad that we lost our brave officer. The incident has saddened us all," he said.

All political parties have strongly condemned the Pahalgam incident. There is anger among countrymen pertaining to the terrorist attack incident, he said.

People of Kashmir have also strongly expressed their condemnation of the incident and they are also not going to tolerate such incidents, he said.

Meanwhile, Congress MPs from Rohtak and Ambala, Deepender Singh Hooda and Varun Chaudhary also went to meet the bereaved family in Karnal.

Speaking to reporters later, Hooda said the Pahalgam terror incident has shaken the entire country.

He said those who carried out the act and those behind it are the "enemies of the country and humanity".

"As an opposition MP, I want to say the entire country is united. This is not an attack on Lt. Vinay Narwal or other citizens who were killed in the incident, but it was an attack on our country and India knows how to respond," Hooda said.

Rajya Sabha member Kartikeya Sharma also met the bereaved family.

He later said the incident, which was carried out by the enemies of the nation, is extremely inhumane.

"It is filled with brutality...I believe the Centre will give a very fitting response and those who have carried out the act will have to pay a heavy price," he added.

Meanwhile, a group of NCC students reached Karnal carrying a portrait of Vinay Narwal and handed it over to the Navy officer's father.

"We thought it was fireworks at first": Kochi woman whose father was gunned down in Pahalgam

Kochi | "We thought it was fireworks at first.. But with the next shot, I knew, it was a terror attack," said Arathi Menon, who witnessed her father N Ramachandran being gunned down before her eyes in one of the most serene corners of the Kashmir Valley.

Grappling with the trauma that shattered what was meant to be a tranquil family outing, Menon said she grabbed her children and just ran with no idea where she was going.

"My sons started screaming, and the man walked off. I knew my father was gone. I grabbed the boys and just ran--into the forest, with no idea where I was going," she said, recounting how they wandered for nearly an hour through the wilderness.

Menon, her 65-year-old father, and her six-year-old twin sons were walking through a fenced grassland in Baisaran when the unimaginable happened. Her mother Sheela had stayed back in the car.

Ramachandran along with 25 others was killed by terrorists in the idyllic greens of Baisaran in Pahalgam.

"We crawled under the fence to escape. People scattered in all directions. As we were moving, a man emerged from the woods. He looked straight at us," she said.

The stranger spoke words they couldn’t understand. "We replied, we don’t know. The next moment, he opened fire. My father collapsed beside us."

"I saw two men, but they weren’t wearing any soldier’s uniform," she recalled.

When her phone finally picked up the signal, she called their driver, Musafir. "The ponies had started running too, and I just followed their footprints."

But amidst the horror, Menon also found compassion--from strangers who treated her like family. "My driver Musafir and another man, Sameer-- they became my brothers. They stood by me through everything, took me to the mortuary, helped with the formalities. I waited there till 3 AM."

As she left Srinagar, Menon had one thing to say to them: "I have two brothers in Kashmir now. May Allah protect you both."

Even in the face of unbearable trauma, Menon found the strength to shield her loved ones from the harsh truth--especially her mother.

In the hours and days following the terrorist attack that claimed the life of her father, Menon took on the responsibility of bringing his body back to Kochi, all while keeping her mother unaware of the tragedy.

"I had to pretend to be strong," she said quietly. "I couldn’t break down as I have to manage my mother and my children."

She told her mother that Ramachandran was injured and receiving treatment, concealing the reality to spare her the immediate shock.

To maintain the facade, she avoided answering calls from reporters and kept the television in their hotel room turned off.

"I only told her the truth after we landed in Kochi on Wednesday evening," she said.

Menon, who works in Dubai and is currently in India for a short stay, had planned the family vacation to Kashmir carefully. They arrived in the Valley on the evening of April 21.

"I often go on trips. But this was the first time I had ever visited Kashmir," she said.

The mortal remains of Ramachandran of Edappally, Kochi were brought to Kochi airport around 8 PM on Wednesday.

Ramachandran’s final rites will be held at the Edappally public crematorium at 11 AM on Friday, after being kept for public homage at Changampuzha Park, Edappally, from 7.30 AM to 9.30 AM.

Terrorists opened fire at a tourist location near Kashmir's Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon, killing 26 people, mostly tourists.