Pahalgam: How a Hindu professor escaped terrorists by reciting 'Kalima'

In a chilling tale of survival, an Assam University professor and his family narrowly escaped death during the brutal terror attack at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22. 

 

Professor Debashish Bhattacharya, a 58-year-old Bengali Brahmin teaching Bengali at Assam University in Silchar, credits his knowledge of Islamic scripture for saving his life when held at gunpoint by a militant. The family recalls the horrifying experience as they closely witnessed the brutal killing of tourists. 

 

The attack, which took place at the popular tourist site of Baisaran in Pahalgam, saw at least 26 tourists gunned down. A shadow group of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, The Resistance Front (TRF), has claimed responsibility for the massacre.

 

Professor Bhattacharya, his wife Madhumita Bhattacharya, and his son Drohadeep were on holiday in Kashmir. They were enjoying the scenery in the hilltop meadow of Baisaran when the terrifying incident occurred. 

 

They were lying under a tree and relaxing when they heard the gunshots, he recalls. Initially, they ignored it thinking it would be blank shots fired by the forest officials to scare away wild animals, but soon realized this was not the case as they witnessed tourists being shot dead mere metres away from them. The family fled and took cover under a tree in panic. 

 

The suddenness of the attack stunned the family. The professor recounted seeing a man being shot dead right in front of him and how he started reciting the ‘kalima’ in an act of herd mentality. 

 

“My family and I saw a man walking near us with a gun, and I thought he was from the forest department. He was wearing a black mask and a black cap and was talking to a couple. He then shot the husband. The attacker walked close to us and shot another man, an arm's distance away from us, who was trying to lie down," the professor told a TV channel. The events that unfolded left the family in shock. 

 

However, the professor, well-versed in Islamic scripture, started reciting the Kalima loudly, saying “la illahi…” in a desperate attempt to save himself from the deadly attack as everyone around him was chanting the Kalima. The gunman came close to him, holding him at gunpoint and asking him to recite the verses loudly, but retreated, sparing his life, hearing him loudly chant the verses. 

 

Meanwhile, his wife, Madhumita, acted quickly to conceal their religious identity. She removed any signs of their Hindu faith, such as her traditional Hindu bangles, and wiped away her sindoor in a desperate attempt to prove they were not Hindus.

 

“I saw four or five terrorists firing in different directions,” Bhattacharya added.  

 

As the terrorists left, they swiftly moved to safety. The family jumped a seven-foot fence and trekked 2.5 kilometres through rough terrain, following horse trails until they regained mobile signals. With the help of locals and their guide, they were eventually able to return safely to their hotel in Srinagar.

India