Source: Yahoo News
Paris (AFP) – Lassana Bathily was an undocumented migrant from Mali until he became an unlikely hero by saving shoppers’ lives during the jihadist attack on a Jewish supermarket in Paris a year ago.
The 25-year-old became the one positive story to emerge from the three days of violence in January, when jihadist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly, police and the Jewish Hyper Cacher supermarket in the east of the capital killed a total of 17 people.
“Ah, here is my favourite Frenchman,” cried President Francois Hollande when he received Bathily at the Elysee Palace a fortnight after the carnage.
Bathily, a shelf-stacker in the supermarket, helped save shoppers from gunman Amedy Coulibaly on that fateful day, January 9, 2015.
The narrative of a Muslim saving Jews from a jihadist made him a positive symbol of France’s diversity.
But as he writes in his book “I’m Not a Hero” to be published Wednesday, heroism has been an uncomfortable mantle for Bathily.
“The next morning, I turned on Facebook and 800 people had asked to be my friend,” he told AFP.
“In the days that followed I said ‘No, I’m not a hero’. I did something that had to be done.”
Bathily was just a few minutes from the end of his shift at the supermarket, unpacking frozen items in the basement, when he heard a flurry of gunfire upstairs and saw around a dozen people fleeing down the stairs.
Coulibaly, who claimed he was working in the name of the Islamic State group, had taken several shoppers hostage upstairs and ordered a cashier to go round up the others.
Some of those who were huddled downstairs obeyed, but others refused to go and Bathily urged them to use the goods elevator to escape.
When no one wanted to take the risk, he ushered them into the refrigerated room, flicking off the light and the motor, and then made his own escape via the elevator and a fire escape.
“My heart was beating so hard that I was scared I’d be heard,” he said.
Once outside, he helped police sketch out the layout of the shop and prepare their raid. A few hours later, they stormed in and shot Coulibaly dead.
Some say Bathily’s role was exaggerated by media and officials hungry for a good news angle.
Categories: Europe, The Muslim Times