“You are defaming Kashmir. There is no problem with Kashmir. The problem is with the government's security arrangements. There was no military there, no medical camp, no proper roads," said Sheetal as she stood before the media in Surat, Gujarat, after the funeral of her husband Shailesh Kalathiya, who was killed in the 22 April terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
In another video that's viral on social media, Sheetal can be seen talking to Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat, in which she says: "When politicians or VIPs travel, how many security cars follow them? They have them because of taxpayers' money, right? These services are there for VIPs; why are they not for civilians?”
Like Paatil, several ministers and lawmakers who went to pay homage to any of the 26 victims as their mortal remains arrived in their hometowns faced similar questions on the alleged lack of security at the meadow in Pahalgam on 22 April.
Even as the government downplays similar questions raised by the Opposition, the accounts of several survivors and their families of receiving no immediate help from security forces paint a different picture.
'How Did Govt Not Know?': A Child Asks
Among the victims was Shailesh Kalathiya, a resident of Varachha in Surat. When asked if he would like to say anything to the government about the security failure, his son, Naksh Kalathiya, recounted the absence of security personnel in the area at the time of the attack.
Even after the attack, in a desperate attempt to save her husband, Sheetal Kalathiya ran to a nearby Army camp, asking them to hurry and help the injured.
“I was shouting at the Army camp that there are people injured up there and they must haste. Even as we were struggling to come down, no facility had reached up there.”Sheetal Kalathiya, wife of Shailesh Kalathiya
“My husband's head was on my lap, and I could not do anything,” Sheetal told news agency ANI.
While she had not experienced any communal tension during their stay in Kashmir, she believed the attack was aimed at sowing that division.
“We did not experience any Hindu-Muslim conflict in Kashmir. There is no such environment there. I feel it is only the Pakistanis who talk of the Hindu-Muslim divide to cause conflicts," she told ANI.
Speaking to the media, her minor son, Naksh, asked how the government could not know.
"We saw two terrorists, and there were around 20–30 of us. Such a big terror attack has happened, and the government does not have a clue how it happened. A full Army base is nearby, and they still did not know. I wish they had kept the Army in Pahalgam, even if it was one or two soldiers. I am never going to visit Kashmir ever again,” Naksh said.
'Want My Brother's Killers Dead'
Earlier on Wednesday, the sister of Navy Officer Lt. Vinay Narwal broke down before Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini.
“Nobody came for one and a half hours. If the Army had been there, he might have survived," she told him in an emotional confrontation.
"I want them dead. The ones who killed my brother, I want them dead,"Sister of Lieutenant Vinay Narwal
At the funeral of Neeraj Udhwani in Jaipur, a family member confronted Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat and former CM Ashok Gehlot. "This attack was the government's failure. What's the point of deploying security here?"
'Tourists Taken to Meadow Without Permission': Govt
In an all-party meeting held on Thursday, several Opposition leaders raised questions with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on alleged security failures, The Indian Express reported.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reportedly questioned the absence of security personnel at a meadow which had about 2,000 tourists.
“The government told us that this spot (the attack site) used to open during the Amarnath Yatra and security would be tightened at that time. But it was opened on April 20 this time and the security agencies were not informed about it."AAP MP Sanjay Singh told The Indian Express.
While Shah said that calling it a security failure would be an overreach, he reportedly informed the meeting that the meadow was opened to tourists without police permission, The Hindu reported.
He also reportedly said that while there was no security presence at Baisaran on the day of the incident, 500 security personnel were present in Pahalgam that day, and it took around 45 minutes to trek to the spot.
Several leaders present at the meeting, however, also questioned the absence of PM Narendra Modi.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and The Hindu.)