Death was just a bullet away from Debasish Bhattacharya, an Assam University professor who was on a six-day Kashmir tour with his family, on the fateful day when terrorists gunned down tourists in Pahalgam on April 22.
Born to a Hindu Brahmin family, Bhattacharya, while recounting the spine-chilling story of survival, told The Indian Express that he recited Islamic verse ‘Kalma’ as he saw four terrorists gun down (Hindu) men in front of his eyes.
“Our Kashmiri tour was from April 21 to April 26, and we were to stay at Pahalgam for a day. On that day, we entered the arena called Mini Switzerland from the back side. Not many people were there on that side. We were all very relaxed. My wife was looking at some shawls while my son was walking around and I took some photos. Suddenly, I heard gunshots and asked the local photographer about it. He said shots are fired by the forest people to scare away monkeys,” said Bhattacharya, the head of the Bengali Department of Assam University.
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.