Neerja Bhanot ~ A life of Bravery and Sacrifice

NeerjaBhanot (38K) Neerja Bhanot (7 September 1963 – 5 September 1986^[1]) was a flight attendant for Pan Am, based in Mumbai, India, who was murdered while saving passengers from terrorists on board the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 on 5 September 1986. Posthumously, she became the youngest recipient of India's highest civilian award for bravery, the Ashok Chakra.

Early life, education and marriage

Neerja Bhanot was born in Chandigarh, the daughter of Rama Bhanot and Harish Bhanot, a Mumbai-based journalist. She was an alumna of Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh, Bombay Scottish School and St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.^[1]

Bhanot had an arranged marriage in March 1985 and joined her husband in the Gulf. However, the marriage turned sour following dowry pressure and she returned to her parents' home in Mumbai within two months. She then applied for a flight attendant job with Pan Am, and upon selection, went to Miami for training as a flight attendant but returned as purser.^[1]

Career

Bhanot was the senior flight purser on the ill-fated Pan Am Flight 73, which was hijacked by four heavily armed terrorists after it landed at Karachi at 5 am from Mumbai. PA 73 was en route to Frankfurt and onward to New York City. Bhanot alerted the cockpit crew about the hijack and, as the plane was on the tarmac, the three-member cockpit crew of pilot, co-pilot and the flight engineer were able to flee from the aircraft, effectively grounding it. Bhanot, being the most senior cabin crew member on board, took charge.

The hijackers were part of the terrorist Abu Nidal Organization and were backed by Libya. The terrorists then instructed Bhanot to collect the passports of all the passengers so that they could identify the Americans. Bhanot and the other attendants under her charge hid the passports of the 19 (18 passengers + 1 crew) Americans on board - some under a seat and the rest down a rubbish chute.

After 17 hours, the hijackers opened fire and set off explosives. Bhanot opened the emergency door and helped a number of passengers escape. She was unable to escape herself and became a hero while shielding three children from a hail of bullets. Bhanot was recognised internationally as "the heroine of the hijack" and is the youngest recipient of the Ashok Chakra Award, India's most prestigious gallantry award for bravery during peace time.^[3]

Her killers

The hijackers, said to be from the Abu Nidal Organisation, were captured by Pakistan, tried, convicted and sentenced to death in 1988. Their sentences were later commuted to life in prison.

In 2001, Zayd Hassan Abd Al-Latif Masud Al Safarini, one of the hijackers who shot the passengers, was captured by the FBI in Bangkok after being released by Pakistan. In the US, he is presently serving 160 years prison term in Colorado. Four others were freed from Pakistan's Adyala Jail in January 2008. The FBI announced a $5 million bounty on their heads. In January 2010, Pakistani intelligence officials announced that a drone attack in the North Waziristan tribal region had killed one of the released hijackers, Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim. His death was never confirmed and he remains on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists and Rewards for Justice lists.^[4][5]

"Her loyalties to the passengers of the aircraft in distress will forever be a lasting tribute to the finest qualities of the human spirit".
Ashok Chakra citation^[1]

After death

For her bravery, the Government of India posthumously awarded her the Ashoka Chakra Award (India's highest gallantry award for bravery in the face of the enemy during peace time), and Bhanot became its youngest recipient. In 2004 the Indian Postal Service released a stamp commemorating her.^[6][7]

With the money from the insurance settlement and an equal contribution from Pan Am, Bhanot's parents set up the Neerja Bhanot Pan Am Trust. The trust presents two awards every year, one for a flight crew member, worldwide, who acts beyond the call of duty and another to an Indian woman who, when faced with social injustice such as dowry or desertion perseveres and then helps other women in similar social distress. The award includes a sum of INR 1,500,000, a trophy and a citation.^[8][9]

Bhanot's brother Aneesh went to Washington DC in 2005 to receive the 'Justice for Crimes Award' awarded posthumously to her as part of the 'Annual Crime Rights Week' at a ceremony held at the United States Attorney's office for the District of Columbia.^[10] In 2006, she and the other Pan Am Flight 73 flight attendants and Pan Am's flight director for Pakistan were awarded the Special Courage award by the US Department of Justice.^[11]

A square called Neerja Bhanot Chowk is named after her in Mumbai's Ghatkopar (East) suburb by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, which was inaugurated by Amitabh Bachchan in the early 1990s.

The civil aviation ministry of India conferred an honour on Neerja Bhanot posthumously on 18 February 2010 in New Delhi on the occasion of the launch of the celebrations of the centenary of Indian aviation.

Family

Bhanot is survived by two brothers, Akhil and Aneesh. Her father, Harish Bhanot, worked as a journalist with The Hindustan Times for over 30 years and died on 1 January 2008 in Chandigarh at the age of 86.^[12]

Awards

Ashoka Chakra Award, India
Flight Safety Foundation Heroism Award, U.S.A.
Tamgha-e-Insaaniyat (Awarded for showing incredible human kindness), Pakistan
Justice for Crimes Award, United States Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia
Special Courage award, US Govt.^[11]
Indian Civil Aviation Ministry's Award

References