Victims cremated with flowers, tears and resolve

IN AFTERMATH OF PAHALGAM TERROR ATTACK

- MPOST BUREAU

JAIPUR/AHMEDABAD/BALASORE: Flames leapt from funeral pyres, suppressed sobs and anguished cries mingled with the sound of mantras and the fragrance of flowers and incense lingered. It was the final adieu for the families of those killed in Pahalgam and also for a country in mourning with them.

On Thursday, the last rites of several of the 26 gunned down by terrorists in Baisaran in the upper reaches of Pahalgam were held — from Odisha to Gujarat and from Rajasthan to Karnataka. A snapshot as it were of the prime holiday destination that Kashmir has been for people across the country and indication of the belief that all was well in the volatile Valley.

The dead in Tuesday's terror strike were all men, 26 lives of promise that ended in a hail of bullets. And back in their homes, families grieved for the sons, fathers and husbands they had lost, some stoic and others inconsolate.

A hush fell over many villages and towns as funeral corteges wound their way to crematoriums and shops downed shutters.

In Ishani village in Odisha's Balasore district, nine-year-old Tanuj Kumar Satpathy lit the pyre of his father Prashant.