Pahalgam terror attack | How Islamic verse ‘Kalma’ saved Hindu professor at Assam University: ‘Feels like second life’

Bhattacharya recalled that more gunshots were heard and his son saw one of the terrorists ask something to a tourist and then shoot him.

“Quickly, we all ran towards a tree and lay down. Another couple with a child came there for shelter. A terrorist came there and asked the husband something that was inaudible to us. Then I saw the man shoot him dead in front of my eyes,” said the professor.

Bhattacharya said that after the murder, the terrorist quietly walked up to the group and asked the professor, “Kya bol rahe ho?” (What are you saying?)

“At that moment everyone was chanting ‘La ilaha illallah’. I also started chanting that verse, even though no sound was coming out of my mouth, out of fear. I do not know what the terrorist felt, but he walked away. But then again, the terrorist returned from the opposite side, took a round, and then walked away. When the terrorist was 20 metres away, we all crossed the fence and ran for our lives and wandered for two hours in the mountains, not getting any signal,” Bhattacharya recounted.

Bhattacharya mentioned that with no mobile network and having no idea from where the terrorists would emerge from the mountains, they followed the horses’ footprints and reached a village.

“Much to our relief, we were able to contact our local driver, and a local resident took us to safety. A family from Chhattisgarh was also with us had got separated from the group. Luckily, their child and the other members of that family were with us and we quickly descended and came back to Srinagar. It’s like a new life to me I faced death right in the face.”

This was the family’s first visit to Kashmir, but Bhattacharya does not know if he will visit the Valley again. But he says his son Drobadeep Bhattacharya would visit the place in the future.