SOCIAL ACTIVIST

Neerja Bhanot

1963 - 1986

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Neerja Bhanot (7 September 1963 – 5 September 1986) was an Indian flight attendant. On 5 September 1986, she saved a large number of passengers on board Pan Am Flight 73, which had been hijacked by four terrorists from the Abu Nidal Organization after it made a stopover at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan. Around 17 hours into the standoff, after she opened an emergency exit door and began helping passengers escape from the plane, Neerja was shot and killed by the hijackers. Shortly afterward, Pakistan's Special Service Group stormed the aircraft and captured all of the hijackers. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in 39 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 36 in 2024). Neerja Bhanot is the 613th most popular social activist (down from 530th in 2024), the 865th most popular biography from India (down from 679th in 2019) and the 49th most popular Indian Social Activist.

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Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

Among social activists, Neerja Bhanot ranks 613 out of 840. Before her are Iqbal Masih, Martin Luther King III, Dolores Huerta, Yelizaveta Chaikina, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and Lida Heymann. After her are Manal al-Sharif, Robert Emmet, Usha Mehta, Oleksandra Matviichuk, Barbara Bush, and Marguerite Higgins.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1963, Neerja Bhanot ranks 463. Before her are Anton Siluanov, Fabrizio Barbazza, Karl Lauterbach, Robby Naish, Dave Rodgers, and Mats Magnusson. After her are Su Tong, Daniel Mojon, Federico Moccia, Hennadiy Avdyeyenko, Joaquim Cruz, and Peter Rufai. Among people deceased in 1986, Neerja Bhanot ranks 278. Before her are Bessie Head, Alan Jay Lerner, Forrest Tucker, Emil Jónsson, Una Merkel, and Erik Svensson. After her are Heather Angel, Kate Smith, Paul Stewart, Edmund Rubbra, Eduardo Risso, and Nii Amaa Ollennu.

Others Born in 1963

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Others Deceased in 1986

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In India

Among people born in India, Neerja Bhanot ranks 865 out of 1,861. Before her are Nalini Bala Devi (1898), George Caridia (1869), Mrinalini Sarabhai (1918), George Fernandes (1930), Soumitra Chatterjee (1935), and Simon Pimenta (1920). After her are Michael Bates (1920), Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (2005), Shatrughan Sinha (1945), Yash (1986), Juhi Chawla (1967), and Mammootty (1951).

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Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS In India

Among social activists born in India, Neerja Bhanot ranks 49. Before her are Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (1947), Manilal Gandhi (1892), Stan Swamy (1937), Har Dayal (1884), Madan Lal Dhingra (1883), and Veerappan (1952). After her are Usha Mehta (1920), Sumaira Abdulali (1961), Jadav Payeng (1963), Medha Patkar (1954), Nirmala Deshpande (1929), and Jamnalal Bajaj (1889).

Indian born Social Activists

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