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Neerja Bhanot is the first and only woman recipient of the India's highest civilian award for bravery " Ashoka Chakra" ( 7 September 1963 - 5 September 1986 ) was a brave heart Indian senior flight pusher who died while saving passengers on Pan Am Flight 73 which had been hijacked by terrorists during a stopover in Karachi, Pakistan on 5 September 1986. She was also awarded by the Pakistan government, "Tamgha-e-Pakistan" and the Medal of Heroism of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution by the United States of America.
Neerja was the senior flight purser on Pan Am Flight 73 flying from Mumbai to United States, which was hijacked by four armed terrorists on 5 September 1986 at Karachi air airport in Pakistan. The flight was carrying 380 passengers and 13 crew members. The terrorists hijacking motive was to fly to Cyprus with the goal of freeing Palestinian prisoners in Cyprus. Neerja was able to alarm the cockpit crew members as soon as the hijackers boarded the plane. Neerja was called upon to take charge under the most difficult situation, at the most difficult time, to step forward in a position of leadership. And her heroic act were clearly responsible for the saving of hundreds of lives on board.
The hijackers were part of the Abu Nidal Organization, a Palestinian terrorist group backed by Libya; they were targeting Americans and American assets. In the early minutes of hijacking the flight the terrorists identified an Indian-American passenger, dragged him to the exit, shot him dead and threw his body out of the plane. The terrorists then instructed Neerja to collect the passports of all the passengers so that they could identify the other Americans on board. She discreetly collected all the 43 American passports and hid them under the seat and rubbish chute so that the terrorists couldn't differentiate between American and non-American passengers.
The real life tension drama continued for 17 hours of hijacking the fight, that's when the hijackers opened fire and set off explosives. Neerja opened one of the airplane doors, and started helping the other passengers escape. According to a surviving passenger, "She was guiding the passengers to the emergency exit." She used all her strength to guide and push people down the chute. That is when the terrorists were firing constantly fearing a commando attack. They saw Neerja relentlessly trying to help the passengers out and that is when they caught her by her ponytail and shot her point blank." Out of a total of 44 American passengers, two were killed during the hijacking. A child on board, then aged seven, is now a captain for a major airline and has stated that” Neerja Bhanot has been his inspiration, and that he owes every day of his life to her.”
After her death, her family set up the Neerja Bhanot Pan Am Trust with insurance money and an equal contribution from Pan Am. The trust honors two awards every year, one for a flight crew member, worldwide, who reflect acts beyond the call of duty and another, the Neerja Bhanot Award, to an Indian woman who when faced with social injustice, bravely faced the situation and helped other women in similar social distress. The award includes a sum of INR 150,000 a trophy and a citation.
Her loyalties to the passengers of the aircraft in distress will forever be a lasting tribute to the finest qualities of the human spirit.
“Neerja was the ‘laado’ of the family, the youngest and most pampered. My parents had wished for her, and in a news article after her death, my father had mentioned how, when she was born on September 7, 1962, the maternity ward matron here at Chandigarh hospital rang up to inform, it’s a girl. To her surprise, he gave her double thanks, for Neerja was a prayer answered after two sons,”recalls Aneesh, her brother.
“Neerja was a very sensitive, deeply affectionate and an extremely decent person who believed in sharing with her people all her joys but not the jolts. She had well defined principles and there was little room for compromise in that area.” As her father remembers her.
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