Kanpur: What began as a honeymoon in Kashmir turned into a moment of unimaginable terror for a newly married couple from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, when a gunman shot 30-year-old Shubham Dwivedi in the head after twice asking him, “Are you Hindu or Muslim?”
His wife, Ashanya Dwivedi, had married Shubham just two months ago, on February 12. This was their first trip together after marriage—a family holiday meant to celebrate a new chapter. Instead, Ashanya returned as a widow, her voice breaking as she recounted the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, in which 26 tourists were killed .
“We had just got off the horses near the hilltop and were walking toward the gate. Shubham was sitting with his sister Shambhavi. A man came up and asked, ‘Are you Hindu or Muslim?’ None of us understood what he meant—we thought maybe he was joking,” Ashanya said while speaking over phone. “He asked again. We were all still trying to make sense of it and began laughing, thinking it was a joke. I said, ‘Bhaiya, we are not Muslim.’ And then, right in front of me, he pulled out a gun and shot Shubham in the head.”
The family had reached Pahalgam on the morning of April 17. Shubham’s parents, Sanay and Seema Dwivedi, were standing near the entrance of the site, while Ashanya had just walked up to her husband moments before the shooting. Shambhavi, Shubham’s younger sister, was seated beside him when the bullet struck.
{{/usCountry}}The family had reached Pahalgam on the morning of April 17. Shubham’s parents, Sanay and Seema Dwivedi, were standing near the entrance of the site, while Ashanya had just walked up to her husband moments before the shooting. Shambhavi, Shubham’s younger sister, was seated beside him when the bullet struck.
{{/usCountry}}“I screamed. I tried to reach him, but Mummu-Papa pulled me back. Suddenly, gunfire started from all directions,” said Ashanya. “When we returned, soldiers had arrived. Shubham was lying there. Gone.”
Shubham, who managed the family’s wholesale business in Kanpur, is the only known civilian from Uttar Pradesh killed in the terror attack. The Dwivedi family, originally from Hathipur in Maharajpur, now resides in Shyam Nagar, Kanpur. They are closely associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Shubham’s cousin, Shailendra Dwivedi, is a senior party leader.
Security forces arrived within minutes of the shooting and sealed the area.
“This was their first vacation after marriage. Two months ago, they were newlyweds. And now this!” said Saurabh Dwivedi, brother of Shubham.
Ashanya, barely able to speak through her grief, added, “He could’ve killed me too. But they dragged me away. I saw my husband die. We had only just started our life.”
Preparations are underway to bring Shubham’s body home for cremation. Political leaders across party lines have condemned the attack, calling it a brutal assault on innocent civilians.