Stranded in Srinagar for week, JU student from Kupwara now hopes to return home
Kolkata: Despite travelling over 2,000 km from Kolkata, Jadavpur University (JU) student Zahid Khan was not able to cover the last 200 km from Srinagar to reach his village Tangdhar in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district near the Line of Control due to military clashes between India and Pakistan.
With the cessation of drone attacks and artillery shelling, Khan, who is pursuing his PhD in political science in JU, now hopes to visit his elderly parents and siblings after spending over a week at a friend’s house in Srinagar.
Speaking to PTI over the phone from Srinagar on Tuesday, Khan said, “My elderly parents, younger sister and other members of the family, as well as a couple of neighbours, took shelter in a bunker at Tangdhar from May 7 to May 11.”
They were evacuated from their houses near the LoC due to drone attacks and artillery shelling by Pakistan in the wake of Operation Sindoor.
Khan, who arrived in Srinagar on May 6, however, could not go to Kupwara due to the situation of that time.
“I kept calling them every hour, sometimes it was so frustrating as I could not reach them. But whenever I managed to talk with them, I could hear sounds — which could either be of firing or interception of drones by our army.
“But they were not scared and they assured me that this will pass and the situation will normalise. My brother, who lives in Dubai, also kept calling me and our family and we kept comforting one another,” Khan said.
He said Friday night was the most terrifying with intermittent sounds of shelling and drones.
“Some houses in our village were damaged but thankfully there was no casualty in our area,” he said.
With de-escalation, Khan now plans to proceed to Tangdhar, which is 200 km by road from Srinagar, as soon as he can to remain beside his family and friends.
“My parents don’t want me to visit them for my safety. They have been sending their videos and photos on WhatsApp over the last six days. But I have to go there,” he said, adding he had last visited his village in August last year.
Khan said he hoped to return to Kolkata in a month’s time depending on the availability of air tickets and their affordability.
Khan said most of the people in his area are poor.
“We all want terrorism to end. We want to live in peace without any drone attacks or shelling,” he added.
