Dreams that did not die

Children in Poonch who lost their kin in shelling post Operation Sindoor find hope in Rahul Gandhi's promise

- BY TARIQ BHAT

Ten kilometres from Poonch town lies the hillside village of Chakthru, where small clusters of houses cling to the slopes—a pattern shaped by the region’s mountainous terrain and scarcity of flat land.

Among them is a house with a vintage design, a well-kept lawn and fruit trees. Inside, Rameez Khan sits quietly. Silence surrounds the house, which once echoed with the laughter of his 12-year-old twins—Urwa Fatima and Zain Ali. The siblings were killed on May 7 when a shell fired from across the Line of Control exploded at their rented accommodation in Mandi. The family had moved there to ensure better education for the children at Christ School. “The daily travel from our village to the school was exhausting,” recalls Khan. “So, we moved to Mandi.” The twins now lie buried in the backyard of their Chakthru home.

Khan was grievously injured in the shelling, as shrapnel tore through his hand and arm. Some splinters remain lodged on his back. His wife, Urusa, a school teacher, attended to her injured husband while silently grieving the death of their children. At the hospital, when Khan would ask about the twins, she would lie to him, saying they were recovering.

"The killing of Urwa and Zain plunged Poonch into grief," says Zulfikar Ahmed, a Youth Congress leader. "The incident left everyone shaken." Poonch, surrounded by Pakistan from three sides, witnessed one of the heaviest shelling in decades, leaving the town empty, says Ahmed. The shelling began after India launched Operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Although 15 people were killed and scores injured, the killing of Urwa and Zain left all of Jammu and Kashmir in mourning. The tragedy moved many, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.