On Friday, 15th of March 2019, two mosques in central Christchurch, New Zealand, had been targeted and 49 people died because of this attack. The attacker is an Australian born white nationalist extremist named Brenton Harrison Tarrant. Not only did he carried out this brutal shooting massacre but streamed the attacks on Facebook. He allegedly used five firearms, two shot guns, 2 semi-automatic weapons and a lever action firearm.
He first came to the AL-Noor Mosque located in the centre of the city. He approached the mosque on foot, with his weapons in his hands and started shooting at people for a whole two minutes after which he went back to his car, took out another gun, re-entered the mosque and started shooting the already dead bodies at close range. He then went into his car and drove away. The second targeted mosque was Linwood Mosque, which is located only at a distance of three miles from Al-Noor Mosque.
There were many names and slogans mentioned on the terrorist’s gun, some were the names of the people such as Anton Ludin Pettersson who was a young extremist student in Sweden. In 2015 he had killed 2 migrant children. Another name was of Albanian military Commander Skanderbeg. He had led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. Alexandre Bissonnette’s name was also on the gun who had attacked a Canadian mosque back in 2017, murdering six Muslims. Other names included Antonio Bragadin who was a Venetian officer who had violated an agreement killing Turkish captives. Charles Martel’s name was also present, a military leader who had defeated the Spanish Muslims in the Battle of Hours. Another thing mentioned on the gun was 1683 the same year in which the battle of Vienna was fought, in this battle the city of Vienna was surrounded by the Ottoman forces.
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Arden visited the families of the victims and consoled with them. She wore a scarf and with tears in her eyes, Arden said she brought messages of love, support, and grief on behalf of all the New Zealanders. She said, “New Zealand is united in grief”. Speaking to reporters, she said the country’s gun laws will be changed.
But now the question that arises is that, are Muslims still to be blamed for terrorism? Why are only Muslims blamed for any terrorist activity? There are many ignorant people just like the Australian senator who lashed out at the Muslims saying that they might have been the victims today but all of this is actually due to the increasing fanatic Muslim immigrants. Well, he got what he deserved; a boy egged him in front of the media, kudos to the boy! Islam has nothing to do with terrorism; in fact, Islam is a religion of peace, love, brotherhood and forgiving others. There is no oppression in Islam neither at any point is there any command to force non-Muslims into converting to Islam. If you want to persuade them. Do it with love and kindness and then it will be their own choice. Why has the word terrorism been linked with Islam or Muslims? When there is absolutely no connection between them. Having extremist views is not what Islam teaches us, Islam is against extremism. We come to see all types of people belonging to different religions and cultures holding extremist views. Just take the instance of that barbaric creature Brenton is also an extremist but what a surprise to the world that he’s not a Muslim! I mean you should not link Islam with extremism or terrorism, you cannot just do it without any proof, first properly study what our religion says and tells us then decide for yourselves. Islam is the most peaceful religion ever, you could never find even an ounce of violence in it. Islam teaches us to help the poor, love our brothers and sisters and treat others irrespective of caste, colour or creed.
A German Muslim when he was asked about terrorism and Islam. He said, "Who started the first world war? Not Muslim!! Who started the Second World War? Not Muslims!! Who killed six million Jews in the Holocaust? Not Muslims!! Who killed about 20 millions of Aborigines in Australia? Not Muslims!! Who sent the nuclear bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Not Muslims!! Who killed more than 100 million of Indians in North America? Not Muslims!! Who killed more than 100 million of Indians in South America? Not Muslims!! Who took about 180 millions of African people as slaves and 88% of them died and were thrown overboard into the Atlantic Ocean? Not Muslims!! First of all, you have to define terrorism properly. If a non-Muslim does something bad. It is crime but if A Muslim commits the same. He is a Terrorist. So first, remove this double standards. Then come to the point."
In the end I would just like to say please don’t connect Islam with terrorism!