Knowing Islamic verse saved a Hindu professor's life in Pahalgam terror attack

Speaking to NDTV on Wednesday, Professor Debashish Bhattacharya, who teaches Bengali at Assam University in Silchar, recounted seeing a man being shot in front of him, which prompted him to recite the 'kalima' in an act of "herd mentality".

Bhattacharya said he and his family had gone to Kashmir for a holiday and were enjoying the scenery at the hilltop meadow of Baisaran on Tuesday with hundreds of other tourists around, when they heard a gunshot.

However, they did not worry, thinking that someone from the forest department had fired to scare away wildlife.

"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 black cap and was talking to a couple. He then shot the husband. My family, I, and some other people ran and lay down under a tree to hide. The attacker walked close to us and shot another man, just a hand's distance away from us, who was trying to lie down," the professor told NDTV.

"Everybody around me was chanting (the 'kalima'), I was also chanting. The man pointed the gun towards my head, heard what I was saying and then he left... I was just chanting 'la illahi...', what everyone was chanting, you can call it herd mentality. I had no idea whether it would save my life or not. He heard it and he left," he said, adding that he saw four terrorists, all of whom were firing in different directions.

Bhattacharya said the terrorist went to another group and asked them questions in Hindi.

He said he and his family were towards the rear of the meadow while the other terrorists were near the front gate.

"After the terrorist who was around us left, we jumped a seven-foot fence and followed the footsteps of horses. We met a local family, and they showed us the path out. Our guide also came looking for us and found us. Our driver brought us back to Srinagar," the professor recalled.

Bhattacharya said he is now trying to get his family out of Jammu and Kashmir and the Assam chief minister's office is also in touch with them.

The terrorists, who were apparently in camouflage, reportedly asked the victims to chant Islamic verse, pull down their pants to check circumcision in a bid to confirm their Hindu identities before gunning them down. A Nepali national was also among those killed.