By Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood
I cherish Jacinda Ardern as my daughter. At her very young age she has catapulted herself to the likes of Martyn Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi and has changed the course of recent history through Ahimsa, that is non-violence. After the infamous attack on worshippers in the two mosques in Christchurch she did not confine herself to chasing the culprit and providing solace to the bereaved families but took direct charge of guiding how the world community and the comity of nations should intrinsically transform themselves. Thus Jacinda rose from mere justice (Adl) and hoisted herself atop high-rise compassion (Ehsaan), complying with the divine mandate given to the humanity (Quran 16.90).
Jacinda described the attack as an utterly callous and cowardly act of terrorism. Many of those affected will be members of our migrant communities — New Zealand is their home — “they are us”, she added. Her Government’s comprehensive resolve was conveyed by her foreign minister at the specially convened session of OIC.
Ardern’s decision not to name the perpetrator of the attack does offer a master plan of how to deal with terrorists — by deflecting the attention from the perpetrator towards the victims; she also appealed to the world to follow her example.
The New Zealand police have mounted the largest investigation in its history. It premises that no punishment could match the depravity of his crime, but the families of the fallen must have justice.
Jacinda Ardern took time to read stories to children at an Islamic kindergarten. The Prime Minister, wearing a Hijab, was welcomed by the children at Al-Nur Child Education and Care Centre in South Dunedin while young girls and boys proudly sang “I am Muslim” to the tune of Freire Jacques to welcome her in.
New Zealand also decided to confront the way social media, even at the international stage, is used to spread vile hatred as ‘extremism has no race, religion or colour; it must be condemned, whatever form it takes’. Ardern said. “They are the publishers, not just the postman. It cannot be a case of all profit, no responsibility.”
In order to pay respect to the dead, the maimed and the bereaved the NZ Parliament convened its special session that opened with an Islamic prayer in the presence of several Imams and representatives of many other faiths. On the very next Friday after the terror attack New Zealand stopped for a call to prayer followed by two minutes of silence. This was followed next week by a national memorial service.
Ensuring Muslim communities feel safe and secure is now a particular NZ focus. Police stand guard outside all mosques to ensure people can pray in peace and there is an elevated police presence throughout the country. The NZ police chief addressed the people thus: “I’m a proud Muslim and a leader in the New Zealand Police.”
A Royal Commission has been constituted to inquire into New Zealand’s security and intelligence agencies, after questions were raised over why the alleged shooter did not show up on the intelligence radar.
New strict gun control measures have been announced. As per new law New Zealanders are required to register online to set up a time to hand in their guns to police – without penalty, if this is done within the prescribed time frame. The Government has created a buy-back program to pay the owners ‘fair and reasonable compensation,’ which is estimated to cost the exchequer between $100-200m; the guns will be destroyed.
NZ has noted that when a terrorist strikes, the aim is to provoke fear and panic but NZ did not let this happen ‘because our thoughts are not the terrorist’s thoughts, and his extremist ways are not our ways and, to be clear, in New Zealand hate speech is not tolerated’. NZ has announced its resolve to work with renewed vigor to spread tolerance, compassion and understanding.
USA’s Empire Estate Building and France’s Eiffel Tower went dark in mourning; an image of Jacinda Ardern was projected onto Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. Pope Francis held a silent prayer meeting and ‘felt particularly close to our Muslim brothers”. PM Shaikh Mohammad tweeted his thanks to NZ for its sincere empathy and support that “has won the respect of 1.5 billion Muslims” after the terrorist attack that shook the community around the world.
President Trump asked Jecinda what support the US could provide; her message was “sympathy and love for all Muslim communities”. The New York Times’ editorial board praised Jacinda and called upon all world leaders to condemn racism; the New Yorker added ‘Ardern has set a new precedent for how a nation grieves after a terrorist attack’.
Last week, a representative group of Indian Muslim community called on Joanna Kempkers, NZ high commissioner in New Delhi to profusely thank NZ for its very humane exemplary reaction to the recent terror attack. I told her that now the world Muslims expect NZ PM to take the world leadership role in eradicating Islamophobia. A 5-year old child today is totally innocent. If after 20 years he decides to strike terror then it is humanity’s duty to research now and identify those factors which are going to bother him during the next 20 years, preempt these and thus keep the world galvanized and secure. She liked the idea and promised to convey it to the Ms Jacinda Ardern.
Dr Syed Zafar Mahmoodis the President, Zakat Foundation of India zakatindia.org