Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Apr 24: Dr Sujata, widow of slain tourist Bharat Bhushan, broke down as she relived the moments her husband was gunned down before her eyes. Speaking on April 24 in Mathikere, Bengaluru, she described begging the attackers to spare him—and their three year old son—only to see him shot dead nonetheless.
“We arrived in Kashmir on April 18,” she began, tears streaming. “On April 22, our last day, we journeyed by horseback to Baisaran Meadows—the ‘Mini Switzerland’ of Pahalgam. My husband, our toddler, and I laughed and played in the grass, then posed for photos in traditional Kashmiri dress. We were headed for lunch when, around 1:45 p.m., the first shots rang out.”
At first, Sujata thought hunters were scaring off wildlife. But as gunfire drew closer, she and her family hid behind a tent. One terrorist confronted an elderly man hiding nearby, lamenting, “How can you be happy here when our children are dying?” Without warning, he executed the man with multiple shots.
“My husband whispered courage to us,” she recalled. Then the attacker appeared at their hiding spot. “I clutched our son, folded my hands, and begged him—‘He’s just a child, please spare my husband.’ But he shot Bharat in the head. I knew instantly he was gone.” Sujata held her son close as people fled; she later found a horse and rode to the nearest CRPF post, haunted by the bodies strewn around her.
Bharat’s uncle, 79 year old Nanjundappa, described his nephew as “kind and energetic,” here on a family summer holiday. “We pleaded for mercy, saying he had a child,” he said. “Yet they killed him. What will become of that little boy?”
Calling for decisive action, he urged the government to strike back at the terrorists and their sponsors. “I’ve witnessed Pakistan’s aggression since 1947,” he lamented. “They must learn from neighbors like India, where all communities stand united.” He praised Kashmiri locals who aided survivors—one youth carried an injured child for over three kilometers—underscoring that humanity transcends every boundary.