Courageous Committed Compassionate

The Brave Heart Neerja Bhanot.

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For Neerja Bhanot, a woman who sacrificed her life saving 365 passengers, on Pan Am Flight 73, bravery is a trivial word (to describe her heroism). It is said that even when the hijackers pointed a gun on her head, she did not get terrified and was smiling, giving passengers a hope of survival. Little did she know that they will survive but she will not. She was shot by the hijackers on September 5, 1986, in Karachi, on the flight which was going to Frankfurt from India. Neerja was awarded Tamghae-Pakistan and Ashoka Chakra for her heroism and was internationally heralded as ‘Heroine of Hijack’. She is the youngest recipient of Ashoka Chakra and was the first woman to be awarded this title. In the month of her birth anniversary and incidentally death anniversary too, our heartiest homage to this real-life hero, who is no more but lives in our hearts…