Grateful Chhattisgarh BJP Worker Lucky Agrawal Hails Guide Nazakat for Saving His Family During Pahalgam Attack

Agencies, April 27, 2025 : In a heroic act of bravery amid the horror of the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, a local guide from Kashmir has been credited with saving the lives of a Chhattisgarh BJP youth wing worker’s family. Arvind Agrawal, who was visiting the popular tourist spot in south Kashmir, shared a heartfelt account of how his life and the lives of his wife, Pooja, and their four-year-old daughter, Samriddhi, were saved by guide Nazakat Ahmed Shah.

The attack, which unfolded on Tuesday, left 25 tourists and one local dead. Arvind, 35, was fortunate to be pulled to safety by other tourists at the onset of the firing. However, his wife and daughter were further away when the chaos erupted. Agrawal recalled, “I was taking photos when the firing started. My wife and daughter were some distance away, and I couldn’t reach them. It was Nazakat who stayed with them and protected them.”

Arvind Agrawal said he and his group ducked upon hearing gunshots and screams from nearby, and they had also attempted to jump the fences to escape. However, he said his four-year-old daughter, Samriddhi, got scared by the noise and started to run across the open ground. While his friends physically held him back, his wife, Pooja, followed their daughter to rescue her.

“I was confused whether it was the sound of bullets or crackers. My wife, Pooja, by then, had already reached the middle of the ground where my friend and his family were,” he said. But to save the day, “Nazakat bhai was with them.”

“He was holding my daughter,” Agrawal said, adding that when a terrorist asked Nazakat who the girl was, “he replied that she was his daughter. He left after.”

Agrawal shared that the local ponywallahs then helped them escape on ponies. He also mentioned that the locals helped take his wife to the hospital, as she had fractured her shoulder.

“While escaping, my wife fractured her shoulder, and with the help of locals, we were taken to the Pahalgam Hospital,” Agrawal added.

Nazakat, 28, who was guiding Agrawal's family, immediately took action when the attack started. He instructed everyone to lie down and then, without hesitation, hugged Agrawal’s daughter and a friend’s son, shielding them from the gunfire. After ensuring the children’s safety, he rushed to find Agrawal’s wife. For over an hour, Agrawal had no idea if his family was safe, and it wasn’t until they met at the hospital that he was finally reunited with them.

Agrawal expressed his deep gratitude on social media, writing, “You saved us by risking your life, Nazakat Bhai. We will never be able to repay this favor. The Kashmir that is ours will remain everything for everyone. I will come again soon.” His words reflect not only his appreciation for Nazakat’s selflessness but also his affection for the region and its people.

Tragically, while Nazakat succeeded in saving the Agrawals, he lost his cousin, Syed Adil Hussain Shah, in the attack. Adil, 30, a local who ferried tourists on horseback, was reportedly shot dead by the militants while trying to stop them. Nazakat was informed of his cousin’s death shortly after rescuing Agrawal’s wife. “I was told that my cousin Adil, a horse rider, had died in the attack,” Nazakat said, clearly shaken by the loss.

Arvind Agrawal, who hails from Chirimiri in Chhattisgarh, also works as a BJP youth wing volunteer. Despite the immense personal tragedy, Nazakat condemned the attack, emphasizing its devastating impact on the local community. “Tourism is our bread and butter. We are unemployed without it, and our children’s education depends on it,” he said. “The attack feels like an assault on our hearts. We have shut our businesses and protested because we are known for our hospitality. We believe tourists will still come, but security forces must be more vigilant.”

During the attack in Pahalgam that killed at least 26 people, local cloth merchant Nazakat Ali became a hero by saving 11 tourists from Chhattisgarh’s Chirimiri. Four friends—Shivansh Jain, Happy Badhawan, Arvind Agrawal, and Kuldeep Staphak—had brought their families to the Baisaran meadows near Pahalgam for a holiday on April 18. On the morning of April 22, a sudden landslide had blocked the roads, leaving hundreds of tourists stranded when gunmen suddenly opened fire.

“My friends and families were frozen with fear,” said Arvind Agrawal, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. “Nazakat bhai did not panic. He put one child on his back, held another in his arms, and guided all of us to safety.”

Despite his own uncle, Adil Hussain Shah, being killed in the attack, Nazakat focused on helping others. Local resident Rakesh Parasr, uncle of one of the rescued families, praised Nazakat’s calm under pressure. “There were three children in my nephew’s family,” he said. “Nazakat took everyone to his lodge and sheltered us until we could leave safely for Chhattisgarh.”

Nazakat Ali, who sells warm clothes in Chirimiri each winter, had known these families for years. His quick action earned him gratitude and respect both in Kashmir and his home district of Sarguja. Local authorities and the people of Chhattisgarh are hailing him as an example of bravery and humanity.

In the aftermath of the attack, local Kashmiris like Nazakat remain hopeful that despite this act of terror, their tradition of welcoming visitors will endure, and they continue to express a resolute commitment to protecting the lives of those who visit their beloved region.