We removed bindis, chanted 'Allahu Akbar'

Sangita Ganbote, whose husband Kaustubh was one of the 26 people killed, described how the tourists desperately tried to hide their religious identity

- Nadeem Inamdar

PUNE: In the aftermath of the brutal terror attack near Pahalgam, a grieving tourist from Pune recounted the harrowing moments leading up to her husband's death. Speaking on Thursday, Sangita Ganbote, whose husband Kaustubh was one of the 26 people killed, described how the tourist group desperately tried to hide their religious identity when confronted by the assailants.

"We wiped off our bindis and began chanting 'Allahu Akbar' when we saw them asking the men to recite the azaan (Islamic call to prayer)," Sangita said, her voice breaking as she recounted the trauma. But their efforts proved futile. Kaustubh and his close friend Santosh Jagdale, also from Pune, were among those killed.

For Kaustubh, the Kashmir trip was a long-awaited milestone. It was the first extended vacation of his life—one he had agreed to take only after much convincing by family and friends. But fate had other plans.

In Kashmir, the group had been travelling together when they were intercepted by four armed men at Baisaran, near Pahalgam. The attackers began questioning them about their religion and demanded that the men recite Islamic prayers.

"The women tried to respond in the way they thought would save the group, but they shot both our husbands anyway," Sangita said, adding that a local Muslim man who protested the killings was also stripped and executed on the spot.

She shared the ordeal with NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, who visited the families of the victims to offer condolences and hear their accounts. Jagdale's wife Pratibha and daughter Asavari, who survived the attack, also spoke to Pawar and narrated how the terrorists singled out the men, asking if they could recite kalmas (declaration of faith) and azaan.