32-year-old Syed Adil Hussain Shah, a local horse rider was the sole provider for his family. Adil wasn’t a tourist. He wasn’t part of any convoy. He was one of Kashmir’s own — a man who saddled up horses for visitors, offering them rides through the stunning slopes of Baisaran,That day, he had gone to Pahalgam for work as usual, unaware that he wouldn’t return home again.When bullets flew, they hit locals and visitors alike. One of them struck Adil, ending a life that had been holding together an entire household.“We called his phone when we heard about the firing,” said his father, Syed Haider Shah, his voice trembling as he recalled the hours of helpless waiting. “It was switched off. Later, it rang once, but nobody answered. We rushed to the police station. That’s where they told us… my son had been martyred.”Adil’s family lives in modest conditions — no riches, no safety nets. His work as a horse rider was their only income. Now, his wife, children, elderly parents, and relatives are left shattered, not just by grief but by the uncertainty of what comes next.“He was our only support,” cried his mother, barely able to speak through her tears. “He fed us, clothed us, did everything. Now, we have nothing.”His uncle, Shaheed Bug Singh, painted a fuller picture: “Adil had a young family — his wife, his children. He was the eldest son, the backbone of this family. Poor as we are, we could still sleep at night knowing he was there for us. Now we have no one.”Relatives and neighbours from the region echoed the same pain, and a shared feeling of betrayal. “Adil represented the real Kashmir — hardworking, peace-loving,” said Mohiddin Shah, a relative. “And yet he was gunned down like his life meant nothing. This isn’t just a tragedy, it’s a wound on our Kashmiriyat.”The Shah family is now pleading for help — financial, emotional, and most of all, judicial. “We want justice,” his father said. “We want answers. Why was an innocent Kashmiri man killed? Who will now take care of his family?”Across the nation— the reaction is the same: silence, disbelief, and mourning. Entire communities have been left reeling.
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