Vigils condemn mosque attacks in New Zealand

Religious leaders, people of varying faiths and left-leaning students separately organised vigils outside the Karachi Press Club on Monday to condemn the terror attacks in New Zealand and to show solidarity with the families of those killed and injured.

The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), a nation-wide body working for rights of non-Muslim communities, and the Democratic Students Federation, a left-leaning youth body, organized the vigils.

NCJP rally

A large number of activists and clerics belonging to various faiths, especially Christianity, gathered in a rally organized in the NCJP.

Very Rev. Father Saleh Diego, Vicar General of Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi, led the gathering while Mangla Sharma, a Sindh Assembly member, and Allama Muhammad Ahsan Siddique, a religious leader campaigning for interfaith harmony, were also among the participants.

“The senseless and inhuman act of killing worshippers who had come to the mosques to pray in Christchurch, New Zealand, is to be condemned in the strongest manner,” said Father Diego. “By targeting the innocent Muslim minority in Christchurch, religious fanatics have destroyed the social and religious harmony that existed in a small and peaceful country like New Zealand.”

He said that Pope Francis and Christian leaders from around the world had condemned this terrible act by a few misguided individuals. “We join our prayers with theirs that Almighty God may console the injured and those suffering the loss of loved ones,” he said.

He also reminded that the Community of Saint Egidio (a movement in the Catholic Church dedicated to conflict resolution and peace) has rightly said: “It is important to underline that an attack on a place of worship, on a free space of prayer, represents an offense against every believer regardless of the religion to which they belong”.

DSF’s vigil

Scores of social and civil society activists held a candlelit protest organised by the DSF outside the Karachi Press Club to denounce the terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

“The rise of racism, hatred towards the immigrants, Xenophobia and Islamophobia are outcomes of heinous policies of imperialist forces, which has been causing unrest in the developing countries for decades and now wreaking a havoc on the developed civilised countries of the world,” said Naghma Shaikh, a known activist.

Other speakers said they felt that the left had an obligation to fight against such evils and called the progressive youth around the time to unite against the imperialist and capitalist policies. “The strengthening of mass social movements and the democratisation of our political system is the need of the hour,” she said.

Karamat Ali, Habibuddin Junaidi, Mehnaz Rehman and Anis Haroon were prominent among civil society activists who attended the vigil.