WASHINGTON, Feb 5: Anita Ashok Datar, the lone Indian-American killed in a terrorist attack in Mali last year, has been honoured by the US Senate which unanimously passed a resolution praising her work for the advancement of international development and public health.
The resolution recognised and honoured the commitment of Datar to connect low-income women to quality health services.
“Through her life and her work, Anita Datar selflessly and bravely worked to advance international development and public health,” said Senator Cory A Booker, who along with Senator Robert Menendez, introduced the resolution.
“Her death is a devastating loss not just for her son, Rohan, her family, and friends, but for the greater cause of bringing stability to communities around the world,” Booker said.
“This resolution honours Anita’s sacrifice and the ongoing work of dedicated development professionals and volunteers across the globe working to provide critical humanitarian aid and counter violent extremism,” Booker said.
Datar, 41, died in a Mali hotel siege in November last. She was the only American citizen killed in the deadly attack.
A former Peace Corp worker in Senegal, Datar was in Mali on an international development project. She was among the 20 victims of the terrorist attack at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako. More than 100 people were taken hostage, including 20 Indians, during the seige.
Condemning the terrorist attack, the Senate in the resolution introduced earlier this month pledged to continue to work to counter violent extremism, including through education and health care, in the US and abroad.
Born in Massachusetts and raised in New Jersey, Datar helped found a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to connecting low-income women in underserved communities to quality health services.
She served as a volunteer of the Peace Corp in Senegal from 1997 through 1999. (PTI)
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