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Journalism of Courage
More than 24 years ago,her daughter,Neerja Bhanot,died at the hands of Libya-backed terrorists,who had hijacked a Pan Am aircraft at the Karachi Airport. Now,Chandigarh-based Rama Bhanot,unhappy with the discriminatory attitude of the US government in settling claims cases of those who died in the hijack,has sought an audience with US President Barack Obama.
Neerja was the first Indian woman to get the Ashok Chakra in what was a recognition of the supreme sacrifice made by her of giving up her life to save the lives of passengers on board the aircraft. It were the US citizens,who were the main target of the four Palestinian terrorists who had carried out the hijacking. She fell to a hail of bullets after she had opened the emergency doors,flung a chute and was assisting passengers in escaping from the aircraft.
In a letter to the White House and the US Ambassador to India,Bhanot and over 120 other Indians,including families of 13 Indians who were killed in the 1986 hijacking,have asked Obama to provide justice to them. They have asked the US President to treat their case like that of the Pan Am 103 (Lockerbie) case,where passengers of all nationalities were provided compensation by way of the Libyan Claims Resolution Act,finalised by the George Bush Administration. They have also requested for a meeting with Obama,who is shortly arriving to India on a state visit.
Pointing out that the Indians who laid down their lives or lost their limbs in the indiscriminate firing by terrorists were trying to save US passengers on the plane when asked to collect the passports of all the passengers by the terrorists so that they could identify the US citizens the Indian air hostesses,including Neerja,hid the passports of the Americans,thereby saving many American lives the letter says that it was wrong on the part of the US government to exclude Indian and other foreign nationals from those entitled for compensation under the Libyan Claims Resolution Act,2008. This was despite the fact that more than two-thirds of the victims on that Pan Am 73 were non-US nationals,the letter says.
It is a terrible turn of events. My daughter died while saving American passengers. She was an employee of an American airline,on an American plane when she died. Yet,the American government disowned all responsibility towards her and other Indians. Where is justice? 83-year-old Rama Bhanot told Newsline. Its not about money. I want to meet the US President to ask him why this discrimination. Didnt they die while saving US citizens? Or is the life of an Indian cheaper than a US citizen? Rama Bhanot asks.
