Tributes paid three years after Christchurch terrorist attack

Tuesday, 15 March 2022

Gamal Fouda, imam of the Masjid An-Nur, the Al-Noor mosque in Christchurch, performs the adhan, or call to prayer.

People came in their thousands to stand and pray in solidarity with Christchurch’s Muslim community a week after the terrorist attack on March 15, 2019.

Three years later, the nation is being asked to tune in to listen to the call to prayer at 1.39pm to remember the 51 shuhada – the martyrs who were killed during the atrocity – and to reflect on the events of that day.

A video broadcasting the adhan (call to prayer) by Gamal Fouda, the imam of Al Noor mosque, is available above. The nation was asked to join the prayer at 1.39pm. Following the call to prayer, MPs gave commemorative speeches in parliament

Fouda said the adhan was a good reminder to Kiwis about what happened, and about the message of unity from the call to prayer in Hagley Park three years ago.

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New Zealanders are being asked to remember the outpouring of aroha given to the Muslim community after the terrorist attack. Flowers were laid in their thousands in the days after the March 15 attacks.

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Temel Atacocugu, who was shot nine times in the March 15 mosque attack, has completed his walk for peace from Dunedin to Christchurch.

“It will resonate with the victims and create the atmosphere of when we stood together in Hagley [Park].”

The families and survivors asked that no large event be held this year, but instead have arranged events that hold positive messages for the future, with Islamic Awareness Week, and Unity Week.

The pre-recorded prayer was organised by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage as an “appropriate act of remembrance and symbol of solidarity with New Zealand’s Muslim communities”.

Terror attack survivor Temel Atacocugu completed his gruelling walk for peace on Tuesday, arriving at the Al- Noor mosque to coincide with the call to prayer.

Turkish-born Atacocugu was shot nine times during the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks and still carries shrapnel in his body from that terrifying day.

He began his journey from Dunedin to Christchurch – retracing the gunman’s route – on March 1 and aimed to arrive at the mosque at 1.40pm, the time the terrorist began his deadly shooting spree. The next step is travelling by car to Linwood Islamic Centre.

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel opened Tuesday’s city council meeting with a speech to mark the three-year anniversary of the shootings at An-Nur Masjid (Al Noor mosque) and the Linwood Islamic Centre.

“It is a day we will never forget,” she said.

The families “want us as a city and as a nation to always remember the 51 shuhada, to never forget who they are and what they mean to those who loved them”.

“They also want us to come together in peace, love and unity, a reflection of the way we came together as a city and nation at that time.”

Doing so “helps us all to remember what’s important in life even when we are confronted with the very worst of man’s inhumanity to man,” Dalziel said.

She also challenged people to ask whether enough has been done to build a more inclusive society since the attack, and thanked the groups formed among the surviving Muslim community for their commitment to building unity.

She remembered Cantabrians “came in their thousands” without being prompted, to witness the call to prayer a week after the attack.

“It was the most powerful expression of solidarity I have ever witnessed. Let us all say, ‘I am here and I stand with you today and every day’.”

The meeting ended with a minute’s silence.

It comes as Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon warned that hate is still being allowed to “fester and grow” in New Zealand, while a new Australian study revealed an 18-fold increase in online Islamophobic abuse immediately after the 2019 attack on two Christchurch mosques.