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5 years ago

Stopping carnage in the places of worship

-Reuters file photo
-Reuters file photo

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The deadly attacks in the mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand shocked the people around the world. Fifty worshipers, among the hundreds, assembled at the mosque to observe Friday prayer were gunned down mercilessly by an armed man. Their faults - they came as immigrants from other countries and they were Muslims. The assassin, reportedly a national from neighbouring Australia, has been detained by the police. The Prime Minister of New Zealand expressed shocks and dismay and characterised the carnage as well-planned.

The assassination of worshipers in the places of worship might have been unprecedented in New Zealand but such heinous crimes have been taking place in many countries in the world. A few weeks ago a Coptic church in Cairo was set on fire and a dozen worshipers were killed and many were injured. In October last a synagogue in Pittsburg was attacked and 11 Jewish worshipers were murdered. Last year, a mosque in Ottawa, Canada came under attack and five Muslim worshipers were killed. In all these incidents, the authorities held the rightwing extremists responsible for the crimes. In most cases the perpetrators have been arrested and are undergoing trial. They are likely to be convicted and would spend some years in prison, but the loved ones lost will never return to us.

Since these incidents are happening periodically what should we do? Should we take these as manifestation of hatred against the minorities and refrain from observing our religious practices in public and discourage wearing outfits that are common in some communities?

Prime Minister Jacinda Andern's acknowledgement that the attack on the mosques has been well planned and coordinated underlines the fact that the police and the intelligence services have utterly failed to keep the criminals under surveillance. The detained suspect displayed several pages of contempt against the immigrants and the Muslims and these were displayed in the social media prior to the assassination spree. Nonetheless, police failed to take any preemptive measures to circumvent the violent attacks.  

The assassin had released a 74-page manifesto, prior to launching the carnage, in which he expressed extreme disdain against the Muslims who, in his words, are responsible for the killings of non-Muslims in the Middle East, Europe and in North America. He condemned the people who have detained him and brought criminal charges against him for their silence when fellow Christians were murdered in Iraq, Great Britain and other places. He claimed to have drawn inspiration from the US President Donald Trump and described Trump "as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose."

It is pertinent to mention that though President Trump called Prime Minister Jacinda and conveyed his condolence on the assassination of large number of people in New Zealand, he dismissed the rise of white supremacists and refrained from condemning the carnage. He tried to distance himself from the claim that he could have been a source of inspiration of the terrorist.

What is equally, if not more, disconcerting is the capitulation of the Republican members in the US Congress to the whims of a divisive president who brazenly admired white nationalism. An official in the White House claims that Trump doesn't subscribe to white nationalism, but the president publicly endorsed the actions of the white supremacists, several times in the past.

Notwithstanding the ambiguity in the White House, people in general have come forward and exhibited solidarity with the bereaved families and Muslim community in New Zealand. On Saturday evening, at the premises of Dar Al-Hujra, a prominent mosque in Virginia, members of the Christian and Jewish communities assembled. The leaders condemned the heinous attacks on the mosques in New Zealand and expressed profound shock at the assassination of worshipers. Similar congregations have taken place in other mosques in different parts of the USA. This is a sharp rebuke to the conduct of Trump and his associates in his government and his party.

Again, this has not been the first time the inter-faith communities came together and shared the pains. In October when the Pittsburg Synagogue was attacked by a white supremacist, and eleven worshipers were killed, the Muslims in and around Pittsburg came forward, raised funds and participated in the funerals of the fallen worshipers. The Muslims volunteered to guard the Synagogues and did everything possible to comfort the members of the Jewish community.  The Muslim communities in Florida and California extended similar overtures to the community affected by gun violence in the past. Standing together above the religious divide appears to be an effective antidote to mass murders.

Islamic State (IS) jihadists abused Yazidi women in Iraq and Syria, but Muslim women were not exempted. Muslim women recently escaped from IS captivity narrated hair-raising stories of oppression in camps. Muslim leaders have denounced IS oppression because oppression and abuse, in any forms, are not sanctioned in Islam.

Muslims in the United States, New Zealand or elsewhere are not responsible for the atrocities committed against the Yazidi and other communities by the IS cadres in Iraq and Syria. Likewise, Jews in the United States or in Europe cannot be held accountable for the harassment and discrimination carried out against the Palestinians in the occupied territories. Hindus in Bangladesh or in Pakistan cannot be held hostage for the persecution of the Muslims in India. The attacks in mosques, churches and synagogues underscore the dire need of inter-community understanding especially when leaders have fallen prey to narrow nationalism and white supremacy for political expediency.

Prime Minister Andern lost no time to reach out to the Muslim community and offered her assistance to overcome the situation. However, the New Zealand police and the local administration have never encountered such a situation and could not come up to the expectation of the affected families. There have been frustrations on the delays in handing over the remains of the fallen worshipers to the loved ones for funerals. But the community leaders have access to the prime minister and the administration is under pressure to exhaust the formalities soonest. 

Abdur Rahman Chowdhury is a former official of the United Nations.

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