Muslim Man Praised as Hero for Not Abandoning Friends During Dhaka Siege

One of the victims of the Dhaka cafe shooting, a Muslim student who was allowed to leave but decided to stay with his friends and fellow hostages, has earned praise for his act of bravery from across the Indian subcontinent.

Twenty people were taken hostages and killed on July 1^st in an attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in the Bangladeshi capital. Two police officers were killed and 30 were injured during the 12-hour siege before Bangladeshi commandos stormed the café, rescuing 13 hostages. The commandos killed six of the gunmen and arrested another. The militants reportedly tortured and killed any hostage unable to recite a verse from the Qur'an.

Twenty-year-old Faraz Hossain, a Bangladeshi student pursuing a degree at Emory University in the US, had come home on his summer holidays and visited the Holey Artisan Bakery with his two foreign friends — Abinta Kabir, a US citizen and fellow Emory University student, and Tarishi Jain, an Indian enrolled at the University of California.

Faraz had been offered the chance to leave the cafe along with women wearing hijabs. However, according to a freed hostage, when the two of his friends wearing Western clothes were asked about their citizenship and then refused to escape, he chose to stay behind and paid for his act of solidarity with his life.

Faraz was buried at Banani graveyard in Dhaka on Monday evening.

His courage has garnered him widespread praise on social media.

Amid the barbaric violence,the sacrifice of hero Faraz Hossain reaffirms that humanity is not dead! #friends. #RIP pic.twitter.com/FlWcUtux1n

— Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) 4 июля 2016 г.​

Very disturbed about the decision young Faraz Hossain had to take: seek safety or stick with friends and death. May no one have to choose!

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) 4 июля 2016 г.​

My hero is a Muslim named Faraz Hossain. https://t.co/EDbezbExlS pic.twitter.com/AUosuCDbwE

— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) 4 июля 2016 г.​

Bangladeshi daily Dhaka Tribune called him an icon to all Bangladeshis as "his bravery and selflessness is an inspiration for generations to come". "We (Bangladeshis) should all take pride in the fact that one such as Faraz Ayaz Hossain lived among us, and in this moment of shame and shock for the nation was able to show the world the best of Bangladesh and what it means to be a true Muslim."