Pahalgam terror attack: How an Assam professor, family narrowly escaped death

Debabasish Bhattacharya from Assam said that chanting Kalma, an Islamic verse, saved him and his family members from getting killed by terrorists

Silchar: Debabasish Bhattacharya, the head of the Bengali department at Assam University, along with his family members, narrowly escaped death in the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam area of Kashmir on Tuesday.

Debabasish Bhattacharya said this was the most horrific experience of his life which will keep haunting him for the rest of his life.

Sharing the experience with HT on Wednesday, he said that chanting Kalma, an Islamic verse, saved him and his family members from getting killed by terrorists.

“We reached the area at around 2.10 pm and nearly 20 minutes later, we heard the sound of gunfire. Initially we thought it was blank fire by forest officials, but my son saw two men getting shot,” he said.

After the gunshots, they went down on their knees under a tree as directed by the masked gunmen and there were many other tourists in the same positions.

“One person was hesitant about going down. A masked man went to him and said something in his ears. Within a few seconds, he was shot in the head, and the man fell on me. I was completely blood-stained and started chanting Kalma following the other tourists,” he said.

Bhattacharya, his wife and two kids reached Kashmir on Monday with a three-day vacation plan. On Monday night, he shared pictures with family members from Dal Lake and on Tuesday they went to Pahalgam.

He said that the area is nearly 800 square metres and there were tourists from various parts of the country.

“It took some time for us to realise that this was a terrorist attack. One masked man in a black outfit pointed a gun at my head and asked me to chant (Kalma) louder. He asked me if I was chanting Ram Ram or Allah. When I correctly chanted Kalma, he left me,” Bhattacharya said.

He said that the masked gunmen didn’t ask him directly to chant Kalma, but he followed the others. “Suddenly everyone started chanting this, and I followed because the gunmen must have asked someone to do this,” he said.

Bhattacharya said that he grew up in a Muslim neighborhood, and they were familiar with the Kalima. “I knew the words, and at that moment, this was probably the only way to save our lives. Those who failed, were killed,” he added.

Immediately after the gunmen left them, they ran towards a fence which was nearly 15 metres from the area and entered a forest. “The fence was high, but we managed to climb up to enter an unknown forest,” he said.

After entering the forest, they walked for two hours to reach an area where a mobile network was available. “Most tourists travel on horses. We followed the footprints of horses to come out from that hilly area,” he said.

After getting the mobile network, Bhattacharya called some locals they initially contacted for a horse-ride and that person guided him further. “We walked nearly an hour further and met him at a point. From there they took us to a bus-stand, and we took a vehicle towards Srinagar,” he added.

He said that this was the most horrific experience of his life which will keep haunting him for the rest of his life.

“I am a teacher, and we read about many killings in the past. But I never imagined I’d be witnessing one. I feel thankful that my family and I survived but it was painful to see people getting shot dead,” he said.

The Assam Government has assured assistance to bring Bhattacharya and his family members from Srinagar.

The official X (formerly Twitter) handle of the Assam chief minister’s office on Wednesday wrote, “The CM Office Assam has spoken to a survivor from Assam of the dastardly Pahalgam Terror Attack and has taken a full brief of the incident which they have faced yesterday.”

“The entire family’s return to the State is being arranged on priority and the Govt of Assam is in touch with the Govt of India to bring the family back to Assam at the earliest,” the CMO wrote further.

Debabasish’s wife Madhumita Bhattacharya has confirmed that the CMO, Assam has contacted them and assured all the support.

“They have confirmed our tickets, and we’ll reach Silchar from Srinagar via Delhi and Kolkata. We just want to reach home,” she said.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday wrote, “I have full faith that Bharat will hunt down each one of those cowards responsible for the dastardly attack in #Pahalgam today. The entire nation stands firmly with the bereaved families in this hour of grief.”