THE 23 YEAR OLD HEROINE

Today on Throwback Thursday, we discuss a real martyr, Miss Neerja Bhanot of Chandigarh, India.

Neerja was a a PAN AM Flight Attendant who died a heroine at 23. She is credited with saving the lives of 360 passengers onboard PAN AM 73 flight.

When radical Islamic terrorists hijacked their flight in Karachi, Pakistan, she informed the pilots and kept both the passengers and remaining crew members calm. The pilots escaped via their escape hatch.

When the terrorists demanded to know who the Americans on the flight were so they could execute them, she gathered all the passports and hid those belonging to Americans under seat cushions. This got the terrorists confused since they were unable to determine the national origins of the passengers and therefore, they ended up executing nobody.

When the Pakistani police raided the plane, she was able to singlehandedly evacuate the passengers as the firefight ensued. She, being one of the last people onboard did a last check and found 3 children still hiding. As she led the children to safety, the surviving terrorists spotted the children and opened fire on them. Neerja jumped in the way of the bullets and was mortally wounded but still able to evacuate the children to safety before dying from her wounds.

Neerja was awarded the Ashok Chakra Award by India, the highest peacetime gallantry award possible. She was the youngest and the first civilian to ever be awarded this honor.

Today, we sing the praises of this young heroine and do hope that terrorism shall one day come to an end.

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