Faraaz to be honoured with Mother Teresa award today

Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain, the young man who refused to desert his friends during the July 1 terror attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery, will be awarded Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice posthumously at a ceremony in Mumbai today.

Faraaz's parents will receive the award at the JW Marriott, Sahar.

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Earlier this month, The Harmony Foundation named Faraaz for the award.

Harmony Foundation President Abraham Mathai said the 20-year-old Faraaz was "the obvious choice" and the world needs heroes like him for his act of selflessness and choosing to lay down his life for his friends.

"He displayed courage and bravado when faced with life and death. We consider it our most humble privilege to bestow this honour on Faraaz," he said.

Faraaz was the grandson of Latifur Rahman, chairman of Transcom Group, and Shahnaz Rahman. Son of Simeen Hossain and Muhammad Waquer Bin Hossain, he was a student at Emory University's Goizueta Business School in the US.

After accepting the invitation, his parents said: “On behalf of our son Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain, it is an absolute honour and a privilege to have the opportunity to accept the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice. Though in deep grief, we, Faraaz's family, cling onto the immense pride with which Faraaz has filled our hearts.”

The Mother Teresa Memorial International Awards for Social Justice is an initiative of Harmony Foundation that recognises extraordinary work undertaken by individuals or organisations.

As part of the award ceremony, the Harmony Foundation has organised an International Conference on Combating Terrorism, which is likely to be addressed by former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, Saarc Secretary-General Arjun Thapa, and former union minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah.

On July 1, Faraaz stood up against terrorists and refused to leave his friends. He was eventually killed in the attack along with 20 hostages, 17 of them foreigners.

The award, instituted in 2005 in memory of Mother Teresa, is the only one in the world recognised by the institution she founded, the Missioneries of Charity, Kolkata, and the first time after she was canonised to Sainthood on September 4 by Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Some of the past recipients have been Medecines Sans Froneiters, the Dalai Lama, Malala Yousafzai, Dr Mahathir Mohammad, Baroness Caroline Cox and other global personalities or organisations, Mathai said.

In July, Garden of the Righteous, a commemorative garden, was set up in the Tunisian capital Tunis in honour of five Arab and Muslim righteous individuals, including Bangladeshi Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain.