French President Francois Hollande (C), French Prime Minister Manuel Valls (L) and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo (R) leave with politicians from the Elysee Palace to take part in a solidarity march (Marche Republicaine) in Paris January 11, 2015. French citize
French President Francois Hollande (C), French Prime Minister Manuel Valls (L) and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo (R) leave with politicians from the Elysee Palace to take part in a solidarity march (Marche Republicaine) in Paris January 11, 2015. French citizens will be joined by dozens of foreign leaders, among them Arab and Muslim representatives, in a march on Sunday in an unprecedented tribute to this week's victims following the shootings by gunmen at the offices of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, the killing of a police woman in Montrouge, and the hostage taking at a kosher supermarket at the Porte de Vincennes. REUTERS/Yoan Valat/Pool REUTERS/Yoan Valat/Pool

France will award citizenship to the Malian migrant, who saved the lives of several hostages, during the attack on a kosher market in Paris on Jan.9 by hiding them in a refrigerator. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced that the hero Lassana Bathily will be given naturalised French status and the government will honour him at a ceremony on Jan. 20. The Foreign minister profusely praised Bathily's "act of bravery."

The 24-year-old, Malian himself is a Muslim and was working in the Hyper Cacher kosher market in the Vincennes neighbourhood of Paris when a gunman entered the building on and killed four. Sensing danger, Bathily, quickly ushered customers into a refrigerator in the basement of the store, even as the gunman was scouring the market, reported Mashable.

Heroic Act

In an interview with French broadcaster BFMTV, Bathily recalled the moments of terror and how he had to take quick- actions that ultimately saved many lives. He said, when the attack on the store began, there were several people in the store, and they were in panic and sought refuge in the basement of the store. He quickly led them into a refrigerator and turned off the lights and freezer.

"When they ran down, I opened the door of the refrigerator. There were several people who had turned to me. I turned off the light and switched off the freezer.... I closed the door, I told them stay calm, I'm going out," recounted Bathily. Bathily, who escaped through backdoor called the police, when he felt safe, and shared the information about what was going on in the store. Police came in and all the people in the refrigerator were rescued.The attack left four hostages and the gunman Amedy Coulibaly dead, after hours of standoff with the police.

Mass Petition

The Huffington Post in a report mentioned the impact of mass petition moved by Change.org, that garnered more than 300,000 signatures and also the encomiums that poured from the international community, which celebrated Bathily as a hero. The mass awakening made the French government to act.

"Lassana Bathily, a young Malian Muslim, has lightened a week that otherwise would have been completely darkened," Thiaba Bruni, spokesman for Council of Black People's Associations of France, noted on the petition's landing page. He said the story of Bathily is also a great lesson on the benefits of mutual aid and brotherhood, which is the crux of all true religions.

(The writer can be reached with feedack at kalyanaussie@gmail.com)