Baramulla: What was meant to be a desperate journey toward safety turned into a nightmare that shattered a family and scarred a village. On Thursday night, as conflict spilled again across the Line of Control, a mother of six was killed in Pakistan’s targeted shelling in Razarwani village of Uri, North Kashmir.
Nargis Begum, the 40-year-old woman, an Aaya worker at a local school, was among nine family members trying to escape cross-border firing when their vehicle was struck around 9 PM.
Three others were injured in the strike.
“They were fleeing for their lives, hoping the vehicle would take them to safety,” said Mohammad Shafi, a relative.
“Who would have imagined that in search for shelter, they would lose a life?” The tragedy has torn apart not just a family, but an entire village, which has lived for generations under the shadow of cross-border hostility.
“We are not new to shelling, but this time it feels different. We are terrified, powerless. We do not sleep, we do not eat—we just wait,” Shafi said, holding back tears.
Among the most heartbreaking voices is Sanam, the youngest daughter of the deceased. Only 16 years old, she sat sobbing in silence, her wedding just weeks away.
“Please bring my mother back,” she whispered. “Who will make me a bride now? How can I live without her?”Her aunt, Tasveer Begum, spoke through her own grief: “She cooked meals for children at school. Who will care for her daughters now? Her husband is an asthma patient. Their future is in ruins.”In a plea to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tasveer said, “Don’t let her family vanish into silence.
They have no one else left. Help them live with dignity.”Local resident Aslam added, “She died shielding her children. In trying to save one life, we lost another. This is no longer a border issue—it’s a humanitarian crisis.”
Pakistan has escalated shelling across the northern stretches of Jammu and Kashmir over the last several days, with missiles and drones targeting areas in Uri, Kupwara, and even beyond to Pathankot and Jaisalmer.
India’s air defense successfully intercepted all incoming threats, but the ground reality remains grim for civilians.
The woman killed in Uri is just one among thousands who live with death as a neighbor. “We want to be doctors, engineers, teachers,” said another young girl from the area. “But we grow up counting explosions, not dreams.”Authorities have evacuated dozens of families from danger zones.
At least 50 families have been relocated to Baramulla and its outskirts.Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha visited the affected areas and met the injured at GMC Baramulla. “We are with the people of Uri in their pain and struggle,” he said.
“We will avenge their suffering by defeating the enemy.” But vengeance brings no comfort to Sanam or her sisters. For them, the enemy is not just across the border—it is the silence that follows a mother’s last breath, the empty chair at the wedding, the absence that no army can avenge.
