SINCE the terrorist attack on two mosques in New Zealand that claimed the lives of 51 Muslims, we have witnessed the solidarity New Zealanders have shown to their religious minority.

Among the kind gestures shown by the majority are visits to mosques by tens of thousands of New Zealanders to console the bereaved, the live telecast of Friday prayers Azan on national TV and women wearing the hijab in support of their Muslim sisters.

The Pakistani print and electronic media have been applauding the New Zealanders for their love and compassion that they have shown to one of the religious minorities in their time of grief.

However, this should also be a time for all Pakistanis to self-reflect on how we have collectively behaved as a nation in the past when similar tragedies struck our religious minorities.

To quote two examples: two terrorist attacks on churches in Lahore in 2013, and on the places of worship of the Ahmadiyya community in 2010.

Did we Pakistanis show the same love and compassion to our religious minorities in their time of mourning? We all know the answer.

Nasir Ahmad, MD
New Jersey, USA

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NEW Zealand just broadcasted the Islamic call to prayer nationally from Christchurch. Every New Zealander, regardless of their faith, heard it.

More importantly, the whole world heard it. This comes at a time when Western democracies ban the call to prayer, ban the headscarf, and in the United States, have a standing Muslim ban.

This is no small gesture or symbolic posturing. This is a nation, helmed by a courageous woman — Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern — leading by listening to Muslims, mourning with Muslims, and honoring Muslims.

During a global moment where Islamophobia demonises anything and everything connected to the faith — as witnessed a week ago in Christchurch, and manifested by the policies and programs enforced by governments near and far.

Seven days after the massacres at Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Mosque, the sublime call to prayer reverberates loudly.

It will hardly wash away the lasting pain and the looming residue of tragedy, but it is a beautiful response to the evil that unfolded a week ago — a humanising tribute to the 50 lives taken and a clear and direct blow to the Islamophobia that hovers above the whole world.

Today, I’m a Kiwi.

Khaled Beydoun
Detroit, USA

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2019