'Couldn't Offer Water to My Dying Mother': In Uri, a Story of War and Survival

Caught in conflict: Uri family's tragic loss amid shelling.

(Photo: Shiv Kumar Maurya/The Quint)

Camera: Shiv Kumar Maurya

Video Editor: Kriti

Nargis Bashir, 44, was busy preparing for her daughter's wedding when the India launched precision strikes on terror camps in Pakistan on 7 May. Over the next two weeks, as both India and Pakistan engaged in heavy shelling and firing along the Line of Control (LoC), Nargis and her family of five stay put at their home in Uri, a town in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district.

"We live in a border town. Shelling and firing is not new for us. But we had never seen anything like this before," Nargis's daughter Sanam Bashir told The Quint.

As shelling intensified, Nargis decided to move her family away from the border, to her brother's house in Baramulla. On their way, however, Nargis's car was caught in shelling and she died on the spot.

"I am so unfortunate that I could not offer my dying mother a glass of water. When the shell struck, we didn't realise my mother was injured," Sanam recalled as she sat in her house along with other women who had come to mourn Nargis's death.

The weeklong conflict, that pushed India and Pakistan to the brink of war, has left Uri devastated. Homes lie in ruins, lives have been lost, and families are still struggling to cope with the destruction.

Watch The Quint's ground report that looks at the human cost of conflict — beyond the headlines.