A vacation in Kashmir in the middle of the election season has left a Jaipur couple scarred from injuries sustained in a militant attack, but they are on the road to recovery with a little help from the Army authorities and the Rajasthan government.
Sunny Khan and Farha Khan had set off for the Valley on May 13 along with a group of 50-odd holidayers from Jaipur. The couple, who are in the real estate business, travelled with their two young children — daughter Humaira and son Haider.
The tour group spent the fifth day frolicking in the snow in Anantnag on May 18 and planned to cap it off with a dinner at a resort in Pahalgam. They came under fire from assailants from a distance of about 15-20 feet just after they had alighted from a van.
Mr. Sunny Khan and Ms. Farha were both hit by bullets, one grazing his nose and affecting his eyes, and another piercing her shoulder.
“Haider was the last to get out of the van. Suddenly some of the members screamed. They saw two persons with guns. A bullet grazed the bridge of Sunny’s nose. Farha grabbed Haider and ran for safety but was shot on her shoulder,” Arif Pathan, Mr. Sunny Khan’s elder brother, told The Hindu.
Rushed to the Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar, Ms. Farha got a shoulder implant. The Army doctors found her husband’s right eye fully damaged and suggested that he be taken to Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai.
CM’s assurance
The Rajasthan government swung into action, with Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma approving a financial assistance of ₹1 lakh each to the couple from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Mr. Sharma spoke over the phone with Mr. Sunny Khan and inquired about his well-being, assuring him that he would be provided with all possible assistance until full recovery.
“The Chief Minister strongly condemned the terrorist attack and added that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, the courage of the terrorists has been completely defeated, and the attacks in Shopian [on the same day, May 18] and Pahalgam are a result of their panic,” said a Rajasthan government release.
Mr. Sunny Khan checked into Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai on Thursday, where doctors examined him and said they would try to restore sight in the left eye.
Ms. Farha has returned to Jaipur to continue her treatment.
