Karachi’s Christian community condemns Christchurch carnage

The carnage at the Al-Noor Mosque and another mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, claiming around 50 precious lives and grievously injuring a large number of Muslim worshippers, including Pakistanis, was condemned by Karachi’s Christian community at Sunday church services across the city where prayers were offered for solace and fortitude to the next-of-kin of the victims.

Condemning the bloodthirsty stance of the perpetrator of the attack, priests prayed that The Almighty may grant the next-of-kin of the victims courage and fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. They also prayed that God Almighty may show the perpetrators the path of the right---and righteousness--- and guide them on to the path of love and peace.

Meanwhile, a group of Christians under the umbrella of the International Peace Organisation, a church-based group, demonstrated in front of the Karachi Press Club on Sunday to condemn the Christchurch attacks. They held aloft placards inscribed with slogans such as “this bloodshed in the name of religion must be stopped” and called on the global organisations to step up their efforts in this regard. A placard also read, “All human lives are equally precious.”

News Desk adds: The terrorist incident in Christchurch took place on Friday when one of the right-wing extremists, who called Muslims terrorists, committed terrorism against Muslims in otherwise peaceful New Zealand.

Armed with semi-automatic weapons, the terrorist rampaged through two mosques in the quiet New Zealand city of Christchurch during afternoon prayers Friday, killing around 50 worshippers and wounding dozens more.

The attacker, a 28-year-old Australian-born man, live-streamed footage of him going room-to-room, victim to victim, shooting the wounded from close range as they struggled to crawl away. He has been arrested and charged with murder.

The chief suspect allegedly published a racist manifesto on social media before the attack, featuring conspiracy theories about Europeans being displaced, and details of two years of preparation and radicalisation leading up to the shootings.

His two targets were Al-Noor Mosque, where at least 41 people died, and a second smaller mosque in the suburb of Linwood, where at least seven more died. The remaining victims succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

The deceased also included women and children. Around 48 people were treated for gunshot wounds at the Christchurch Hospital, including young children, with injuries ranging from critical to minor.

"I heard three quick shots, then after about 10 seconds it started again. It must have been an automatic -- no one could pull a trigger that quick," a man told AFP, requesting anonymity.

"Then people started running out. Some were covered in blood," he said. New Zealand police described the footage shot by the gunman as "extremely distressing" and warned web users that they could be liable for up to 10 years in jail for sharing such ‘objectionable content’.

The southeastern city was named in the suspect’s manifesto as the original target for his attack. Following the carnage, police warned Muslims all over the country not to visit mosques anywhere in New Zealand.

Christchurch city council offered a helpline for parents looking for kids attending a mass climate change rally near the shooting. The Bangladesh cricket team -- which had been in Christchurch for a Test match and was about to go into the mosque when the attack happened -- all escaped without injury.

Mass shootings are very rare in New Zealand, which tightened its gun laws to restrict access to semi-automatic rifles in 1992, two years after a mentally ill man shot dead 13 people in the South Island town of Aramoana.

A solemn New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the deadly mosque shootings in Christchurch had plunged the country into one of its "darkest days". "Clearly, what has happened here is an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence," Ardern said in an address to the shocked nation.

At least six Pakistanis were martyred in the Christchurch mosque attacks, New Zealand authorities confirmed to the Foreign Office on Saturday. Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Mohammed Faisal said Naeem Rashid, the Pakistani who sacrificed his life to save others at Al-Noor Mosque, will be buried along with his son Talha Naeem, 22, in Christchurch.