Assam professor recites Islamic verse, wife wipes off sindoor to bluff terrorists

SILCHAR: Debasish Bhattacharya is well-versed in Islamic scripture. That knowledge helped the Hindu associate professor of Bengali in Silchar’s Assam University snatch life from the jaws of death during the terror strike in Pahalgam on Tuesday.

With a gun held against his head by one of the terrorists, the 58-year-old Bengali Brahmin was asked to recite the first kalma if he wanted to live. “Overwhelmed by fear, I began to chant the first kalma loudly. After some time, I realised the gunman had retreated, and we scrambled to a fence behind us. We climbed over it and fled into a jungle,” Bhattacharya said.

The professor had travelled to Kashmir for a vacation on April 21 with wife Madhumita Bhattacharya, a well-known danseuse, and their son, Drohadeep, a medic at Silchar Medical College and Hospital. “My sister-in-law (Madhumita) told me over phone that when the terrorists began their assault, she swiftly removed her shakha-pola (traditional Hindu bangles) and wiped away her sindoor (vermilion) in a desperate attempt to prove they were not Hindus,” Indrani Das, Bhattacharya’s sister, said in Silchar.

The professor recalled how the terrorists went about their macabre business. “First, one of the gunmen shot dead a man standing next to me and was simultaneously asking people to recite the kalma. The victim’s blood and flesh splattered onto my jacket. As the gunman approached us, I started to recite the kalma. The gunman asked me in Hindi and Urdu to recite loudly,” Bhattacharya said.

The suddenness of the attack stunned the family. “A minute ago, we were enjoying the serene beauty of Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam when I suddenly heard the ominous sound of a gunshot nearby. A photographer standing close by suggested it might have been a blank shot fired by forest officials to scare away monkeys,” Bhattacharya said.

But his son Drohadeep soon witnessed one of two tourists being shot dead by a gunman 20 meters away. The panic-stricken family fled and found refuge among the bushes, taking cover under a tree.

The family later trekked 2.5km through rugged terrain before they regained mobile signals. With the assistance of a local woman, they were able to contact the horseman they had hired. He brought them back to their hotel. “My son and I saw at least five terrorists,” he said.