The Aftermath of Christchurch Attacks
The 15th of March 2019 has been a shocking day for the residents of Australia and New Zealand. Many Muslims left home for Christchurch mosques for prayer where a carefully planned mass shooting took place at lunchtime on that day. About 49 people have been reported dead while other 20 people have been found injured. This incident which happened in New Zealand, a peaceful nation, left the world in disbelief.
New Zealand has always been a tolerant country that has embraced equality and diversity. For such an act to have happened on that land, even the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was taken off guard. She immediately came out in the public wearing a headscarf and showed compassion and empathy towards the families of all those who were affected in those two attacks in Christchurch city. Paradoxically, when the attack happened, Fraser Anning, a Senator who entered the Australian Parliament in 2017 made discriminatory remarks against the Muslim community by using the words “final solution” with a call for ban on Muslim immigration. He added, “The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program that allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place”. While hate speeches like this are illegal in Australia, there is also this difficulty in drawing the thin line between this and free speech. Just three days ago, it was declared to the Press that the New Zealand’s immigration Minister has decided to grant all those directly and indirectly affected in those attacks a permanent residency visa, amid the uncertainty surrounding their immigration status following these attacks.
Members of the Parliament in New Zealand have demonstrated solidarity with the Muslim community in the country and around the world by marking the opening of the parliamentary session with a recitation from the Quran - the Islamic Holy book. Several debates have sparked online that started as a movement in the decolonization in the mindset of people that have occasionally associated Muslims with the term ‘terror’ and people have come to realize that Muslims, just like the others, fall prey to such vicious acts by the extremists. It takes a wise and enlightened mind to see past the hatred that the dark web is trying to spread around the globe.
Also, PM Jacinda Ardern, being the remarkable and distinct leader that she is, has come to reflect upon the cause of such an atrocity that happened in New Zealand and after much consideration, has called for a law banning all semi-automatic weapons in her country. This effort is applauded because it is a call for change in its domestic legislation of weaponry, as opposed to the reluctancy in USA in making such changes.
Notably, there has been wide-spread interfaith solidarity from around the world in support of the victims’ families and to the Muslim community in New Zealand. Ladies from different communities have been wearing headscarves to show respect, support and compassion to the Muslims. If it takes hatred to divide people, it also takes hatred to unite people. Sometimes, it takes an incident like this to restore faith in humanity. The aftermath of Christchurch attacks has led to more unity despite the diversity in the background of every individual for a common cause.
Article written by Anonymous
This article appeared in the Torts Illustrated Diversity (2019) Publication