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Tragedy befell on May 18, 2023 in the Pahalgam serene valleys when a group of terrorists attacked a group of tourists killing 7 people including local ponywallah Bashir Ahmad Dar. Some of the left over families include his 22-year old daughter, Ayesha Bashir, who now has to survive on the meager family savings awaiting the promised government job as part of ex-gratia compensation.

Ayesha is a student who was in her graduating year during the attack and now does not hesitate to speak out of the bitter truth three years down the line. On February 16, 2026, in Srinagar, she told reporters that she received 5 lakh ex-gratia and 10 lakh insurance but there is little left after paying off the debt and medical costs of treating her mother due to trauma. My father was a sole breadwinner. We live on such savings as he had been able to make out of 20 years of ponywallah life. There is now nearly an end of money.

The administration of Jammu and Kashmir had announced that the government would offer a job to one family member of every killed person on compassionate grounds, which is common with cases of terror on civilian killings in the region. In 2023, Ayesha resorted to an application of a Class IV position, attaching all the necessary documents. But, three years has passed, she says. I continue to visit offices, and they inform me that the file is awaiting or being processed. I do not know when and whether it will occur.

Ayesha has taken a part time job of a tutor and aids her mother in operating a small roadside tea stall close to Pahalgam market during the tourist season. "We are not asking for charity." Only the job that was offered because I should support my mother and younger brother who are still at school, she said. Each month we borrow out the savings left. And should it cease, I do not know what will we do.

Local leaders and the civil society have criticized the delay. PDP spokesperson Suhail Bukhari termed it as administrative apathy, and urged the LG administration to expedite compassionate appointments of the families of the terror victims. J&K government themselves have not made any official follow-up on the case of Ayesha as yet as of February 17, 2026.

The story of Ayesha lays stress on the long-term victimization of families of terror victims who saw no end to the loss, lagging finances, bureaucracy, and promises kept. My father passed away on service to the tourists. It is all the government can do, keep its word, I said to myself. At the moment, the family is trying to live on dying savings and dying hope.