Srinagar/IBNS, April 24 -- Knowing the 'kalima' (an Islamic declaration of faith) probably saved the life of a Hindu professor from Assam during the terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives.

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".

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

"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 il...