'One Should Never See What I Saw': Local Ponywallah Recounts Pahalgam Horror A Year After Terror Attack

Last Updated:April 20, 2026, 13:46 IST

Wani said that he received a call from the police about an untoward tragedy on the afternoon of April 22.

As the first anniversary of the Pahalgam terror attack approaches on April 22, survivors and locals share their ordeal of the horrific day, when four to five terrorists opened fire on tourists in the Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam in south Kashmir in 2025.

One of the locals, Abdul Waheed Wani, president of one of Pahalgam’s largest Ponywallah associations, expressed his pain, saying that he keeps himself busy to push away memories that still haunt him.

While speaking to Times of India, Wani, who was among the first to reach Baisaran valley after the terror attack, said that what he saw there returns to him at night and sometimes even during the day.

He told the news outlet that he received a call from the police about an untoward tragedy on the afternoon of April 22. Wani said that he was in a nearby village and he took a shorter route to the site and reached before the police, who had to take a longer trek.

“When I reached there, I saw a woman crying, a child crying. Bodies were lying scattered. For a moment, I felt I would not make it back after seeing all this. What I saw that day I pray no one should ever see," he told the news outlet.

Wani further described how he rushed to help an injured woman amid abandoned makeshift shops. Spotting a wounded woman, he ran to a nearby stall, picked up a bottle of water and returned to her. “I told her police and administration were on the way," he said.

He said that, soon after, he sent a message on a WhatsApp group of around 700 ponywallahs, urging them to come and help. However, only about 15 could reach the site as security forces had sealed off the area. Recalling the grim reality, Wani said many victims had suffered fatal head injuries.

“We tried to help the wounded. Baisaran is a large area and bodies were lying in different places. It took time to bring them together. Those were not ordinary bodies, they had head shots," he said.

Amid the devastation, some voices have stayed with him. He remembered a woman who refused to leave her husband behind. “She kept saying, ‘My husband is here. We were just walking, taking pictures. Where will I go alone?’" he recalled.

In another instance, Wani found a man lying among several bodies who was still alive. “When we touched him, he spoke. He had bullet wounds in his neck and arm. I still remember his voice when he said what happened," he said, adding that the memory continues to haunt him.

Despite limited resources, locals managed to evacuate some of the injured. “One man we carried on our shoulders, then on a charpai. He survived," Wani said.

He also said that the traumatic experience continues to weigh heavily on him. “Whenever the memories return – and they do often – I try to keep myself occupied. I move around, find something to do or call someone," he added.

What Happened In Pahalgam?

In one of the biggest attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, Lashkar-linked terrorists opened fire on a group of tourists in Pahalgam on April 22, killing at least 26 people, including foreign tourists, and injuring many others. The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar offshoot, claimed responsibility for the attack, although it later backtracked after massive global outrage.

India responded with Operation Sindoor on May 7, bombing nine terrorist camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in pre-dawn strikes that killed at least 100 militants. The operation sparked four days of cross-border fighting involving fighter jets, missiles and artillery.

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