Braveheart DIU student wins posthumous Faraaz Hossain Courage Award 2017

Khandakar Abu Talha, who died protesting a mugging in October, became the second recipient of the Faraaz Hossain Courage Award in Dhaka on Saturday. Introduced last year in honour of Faraaz Hossain, a victim of the terror attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1, 2016, the award seeks to recognise acts of exceptional courage and selfless heroism.

Photo of Daffodil International University student Khondakar Abu Talha, who died after he was allegedly stabbed by two suspected muggers at Wari Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka TribuneBrac founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG, Faraaz's grandfather Latifur Rahman and PepsiCo India Chairman D Shivakumar handed the award to Talha’s family members at the Dhaka Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel.

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Meanwhile, also at the event, Faraaz’s brother Zaraif Ayaat Hossain inaugurated the Faraaz Hossain Foundation, formed to help various people in need. PepsiCo Global launched the Faraaz Hossain Courage Award in 2016, setting up a fund of $200,000. The $10,000 prize will be awarded annually for the next 20 years.

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To receive the award, a candidate must be a Bangladeshi citizen below 35 years of age and should exemplify exceptional personal courage and take outstanding initiatives to help fellow human beings. Talha, a second year student of computer engineering at Daffodil University, attempted to fight two muggers when they tried to rob some passengers on a rickshaw immediately after mugging him as well on October 8. He was stabbed in the attempt and died due to the injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital the next day.

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Last year, Md Miraz Sarder from Madaripur received the first edition of the award, for catching a man who had attacked a teacher of Madaripur’s Government Nazimuddin University College. The jury for the Faraaz Hossain Courage Award 2017 was comprised of Brac founder and Chairperson Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG, Bishwo Shahitto Kendro Chairman Abdullah Abu Sayeed, renowned Tagore exponent Rezwana Choudhury Bannya, Standard Chartered Bank CEO Naser Ezaz Bijoy, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka President Nihad Kabir, American International School, Dhaka teacher Sabahat Jahan, PepsiCo Bangladesh Country Manager Manish Muley and Faraaz's grandfather Latifur Rahman, also chairman of Transcom Group.