GUWAHATI: A university teacher from Assam escaped death in Pahalgam, Kashmir by the skin of his teeth by uttering the Islamic verse “la ilaha illallah.”
Recounting the horror, Professor Debashish Bhattacharjee, head of the Bengali Department at the Assam University in Silchar, said he had seen death from very near.
He went to Kashmir accompanied by his wife and son, and had included Baisaran in their holiday itinerary.
“We were soaking in the beauty of the place when suddenly the gunfire erupted. I tried to save my life by lying down under a tree. I heard people chanting ‘la ilaha illallah’ (the first of six kalimas which are foundational Islamic declarations). I too chanted it,” Bhattacharjee said.
“One person was in a dilemma whether or not to lie down. He was shot in no time. He fell down and his blood splattered onto my body. When a gunman came to me and asked what I was murmuring, I tried to chant la ilaha illallah quite loudly. He soon left the place,” Bhattacharjee further stated.
He said after that, he along with his family members and some others, including a child, ran towards the fence, crossed it by climbing and started walking towards a hillside.
“For the next two hours, we walked following in horse’s hoof prints. We reached a village and met a Kashmiri woman. She showed us the road leading to Pahalgam. On the way, we met the two horse riders whom we had hired. Eventually, we reached Pahalgam,” the teacher, who was in Srinagar along with his family members on Wednesday, said.
He said he had seen three attackers and heard the sound of at least 15 gunshots. He added that when he was on the hill and fleeing, he heard the sound of gunshots for 30 minutes.