A tourist from Assam, who survived the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, shared how he escaped unhurt despite coming face to face with a terrorist. He recalled the attack and said he started reciting Kalma loudly when a terrorist approached him.
Associate Professor Debasish Bhattacharyya of Assam University, who was in Pahalgam with his family, said he joined a group of people reciting Kalma when a terrorist approached him.
“A terrorist walked up to me. Then he looked at me and asked, ‘What are you doing?”
In response, Bhattacharyya began reciting the Kalma loudly.
“He asked me, ‘What are you saying?’ I kept repeating La ilaha illallah… For some reason, he turned and left,” he recalled.
“I wasn’t directly asked to recite the Kalma, but I heard others doing it under the tree, and I followed them. “I heard the man asking someone if they were taking ‘Ram Naam’,” Bhattacharyya added.
The Assam government has stepped in to make arrangements for Bhattacharya and his family’s safe return.
