'Where is Papa?': 3-year-old child's heart-wrenching question echoes in aftermath of Pahalgam terror

Each time her little boy wakes up from sleep, his voice trembles with the same haunting questions—"Where is Papa? Did he go somewhere?" His mother has no answers. All she can offer are tears as her son's words slice through the stillness like shattered glass.

The three-year-old kid's father Bitan Adhikari was gunned down by terrorists amidst the breathtaking beauty of Pahalgam, Kashmir.

What was meant to be a joyful family holiday turned into a lifelong nightmare.

Adhikari, originally from West Bengal, had settled in Florida with his family a few years ago. He returned to Kolkata on April 8 to visit relatives and was vacationing in Kashmir with his family at the time of the attack.

"They separated us," his widow recounted to a news channel, her voice cracking.

"They asked where we were from, then segregated the men, asked their religion, and shot them one by one. My husband was murdered right in front of our child. How do I explain this to him?" she said.

"I don't know how to tell my son that his father is gone forever," she says, her voice barely a whisper. "He wakes in terror, clutching my hand, pleading—‘Where is father?'" Back home in Kolkata, the grief runs deeper still.

Bitan was not only a devoted husband and father, but also the primary caregiver for his ageing and ailing parents, despite living abroad.

His father, 87-year-old Bireshwar Adhikari, and his 75-year-old mother, Maya Adhikari, are both in poor health.

It was Bitan who managed their medical expenses, sending money from abroad to ensure they never missed a dose of medicine or a doctor's appointment.

"He may have been overseas, but he never let us feel his absence," said a grieving relative.

"From arranging their checkups to paying for every prescription, Bitan handled everything. Now, who will look after them?" The April 22 attack claimed the lives of 25 Indian tourists and one Nepali national, leaving scores of others wounded.

The savage nature of the killings, allegedly after terrorists separated non-Kashmiri tourists and asked them about their religion, has sparked national outrage.

Back in Kolkata, as neighbours and relatives try to console the Adhikari family, the pain remains too deep for words.

"I just want someone to tell my son why his father is never coming back. And I want justice — not just for my husband, but for every innocent person who lost their life that day," his wife said.

Adding to the family's call for justice, Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh made a public appeal on social media urging both the central and state governments to consider the plight of Bitan's parents while disbursing compensation.

"Don't give the entire compensation amount to Mrs. Adhikari alone," Ghosh posted on X.

"Kindly divide it, and give an amount to Mr. Bitan Adhikari's parents also. They are totally helpless. After Bitan's death, the parents became more helpless. A financial protection must be given to them also," he said.

He further emphasised that if the elderly parents were no longer alive, the amount would naturally revert to Bitan's wife and son, but at this moment, the situation of the parents warranted immediate, independent attention.

"I am confident the state government will consider this point seriously. The central government should think alike also," he wrote.