Young Vinay Narwal was inspired to serve his country. He was inspired by the example of his father, who served with the Border Security Force and Haryana Police. He was inspired by the sight of military vehicles trundling past him as a boy. He was inspired to fight to protect India.

Two years ago that dream began – with a commission in the Navy and a posting in Kerala.

And then on April 16, 2025, he also vowed to be a good and faithful husband to Himanshi.

Less than a week later both dreams were extinguished at the end of a gun.

Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, 26, was killed by a terrorist in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir. And it was not during an encounter or military op. He was shot dead on his honeymoon.

Lt Narwal’s grieving grandfather, Hawa Singh, spoke to NDTV from the family home in Karnal in Haryana, remembering his grandson and the determination with which he pursued a military career.

“We came to Karnal from our village… he used to live in Sector 7, there was a small school. He studied there and did his matriculation from there, and then did his higher schooling in Delhi.”

Young Narwal was always fascinated by the armed forces and always wanted to serve his country, the grandfather told Web Press Global, recalling, “When he used to see military vehicles in his childhood, he used to ask me a lot of questions. ‘How is this’, ‘what is this’…”

“In fact, he used to get angry that I have worked with the BSF and he had not.”

A service veteran, the grandfather was aware of how hard a life in the military could be, admitting, “I know how tough border work is… and after that I served in Haryana Police… so I told him not to go this way, because it is very difficult.”

But young Narwal was adamant. He wanted to join the military to serve his country.

And so, while studying in Delhi, he sat for the CDS, or Combined Defence Services, exams, a standardised test to recruit aspirants into various military academies. But it wasn’t yet his time.

His time would come after he completed his B Tech from SRM University in Haryana’s Sonipat.

He then cleared the SSB, or Services Selection Board, which recruits officer-rank aspirants and is a gruelling five-day affair that tests candidates’ physical and psychological states.

“He was selected directly from the SSB… he joined the Navy as a Second Lieutenant and was promoted 18 months ago. He became a Lieutenant,” the grandfather said, the pride evident.

Lt Narwal, it appeared, was ready to script a sterling military career.

But Fate had other, crueller, plans.

A week after his marriage, Vinay and Himanshi Narwal were in Pahalgam for a holiday. They were at Baisaran Valley, a picturesque green tourist hotspot also called ‘mini-Switzerland’.

And at 2.30 pm on that fateful day, terrorists swarmed down the hillside and opened fire.

Twenty-six people, including Lt Narwal, died. All men. Many shot dead in front of their partners.

The Lieutenant’s grandfather told NDTV the family had been told Narwal was eating when he was murdered, shot in the head. And asked now what his demand is of the government, the grandfather said quietly, “What will we demand? The government will do what it wants.”

“Nothing can be done about him (to bring him back). So we don’t demand anything.”

“The terrorist shot him. He died,” the grandfather concluded.

‘Evil Will Never Succeed’, PM’s Vow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned the attack and, in an X post, said, “Those behind this heinous act will not be spared… their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakeable…”

Mr Modi, who was on a State visit to Saudi Arabia when the attack took place, rushed back to Delhi. His plane landed at Palam Air Force Base – after avoiding Pak airspace on its way back – this morning.

On his direction, Home Minister Amit Shah reached Pahalgam Tuesday night; he had earlier held an emergency video call with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and J&K Governor Manoj Sinha, as well as the heads of state and federal security agencies.

Mr Shah has vowed the government “will come down heavily on perpetrators”.

An apoplectic Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called the terrorists “animals and inhuman”. He also said the attack was “much larger than anything directed at civilians in recent years”.