‘New Zealand is unbreakable’: Al Noor Masjid imam

Arab News
March 22, 2019

Christchurch/New Zealand, Mar 22: The Imam of Masjid Al Noor has led the first Jummah prayer in Christchurch since the mosque shootings last Friday.

The Friday Prayer was held at Hagley Park, directly across the road and about 100 meters from the mosque where a terrorist killed 42 worshippers.

Tens of thousands of people attended the Jummah prayer in a show of solidarity with the 50 victims of the shootings at two mosques in the city exactly a week ago.

Imam Gamal Fouda, who survived the attack at Al Noor mosque, faced the enormous crowd today, a sharp breeze carrying his words of prayer across the green park landscape.

“Last Friday, I stood in this mosque behind us and saw the hatred and rage in the eyes of a terrorist, who killed and martyred 50 innocent people, wounded 42 and broke the hearts of millions around the world. Today, from the same place, I look out and I see the love and compassion,” Fouda said.

“The terrorist tried to tear us apart with evil, but New Zealand is unbreakable.”

Fouda warned against the “evil ideology of white supremacy” saying it was a threat to man-kind globally.

“Islamophobia kills. Islamophobia is real. It’s a targeted campaign to influence people to dehumanize and irrationally fear Muslims.”

He called on governments and leaders around the world to bring an end to hate speech and the politics of fear.

Fouda said the world should look to New Zealand as an example of how to respond to right-wing extremism and terrorist attacks.

“The world can see in us an example of love and unity. We are broken-hearted but we are not broken. We are alive. We are together. We are determined to not let anyone divide us.”

Fouda thanked the public, the police and not least, the country’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

“Thank you for your tears. Thank you for your haka. Thank you for your flowers. Thank you for your love and compassion. To our prime minster, thank you. Thank you for your leadership. It has been a lesson for the world’s leaders. Thank you for honoring us with a simple scarf,” he said.

The imam’s words were punctuated throughout by spontaneous applause from the large crowd.

'The attack made us stronger'

Turkish man Mustafa Boztas said the mass gathering for Friday Prayer was comforting in the wake of the deadly attacks.

Boztas attended the event in a wheelchair. He was shot in the leg at Masjid Al Noor.

“Even if I couldn’t walk, I wanted to still make it here. I still can’t walk but I made it here,” Boztas said.

He said he survived the shooting by playing dead, then jumping out of a window to escape. There was a glass fragment in his rib and a problem with his liver.

Still, “You’ve got to stand up again and stay strong,” Boztas said.

He believed the terrorist attack had made the Muslim community stronger than ever.

'I lost my friend'

In a wheelchair and dressed in a hospital gown, Taj Mohammed Kamran came to worship at Hagley Park.

Kamran was shot in the leg at Masjid Al Noor last Friday and has been in Christchurch Hospital since.

He praised Imam Fouda’s speech, saying it had a “very good message”.

Kamran has lived in Christchurch for 12 years since arriving from Afghanistan. “I love the people of Christchurch," he said.

He recounted events in the mosque a week ago, explaining how he had tried to escape but couldn’t get out because there were too may dead bodies blocking the exits. His friend was shot and killed.

 Kamram cried as he held up a photo of his close friend, Matiullah Safi, who was killed in the attack. The two “went everywhere together”. Safi was “like a brother”.

 “I can’t sleep and I miss my friend,” Kamran said.

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News Network
November 7,2024

Udupi, Nov 7: In a tragic turn of events, a young woman, Prasanna, aged 29, allegedly died by suicide on Wednesday, struggling to cope with the demands of work and motherhood after the birth of her daughter, according to police reports.

Prasanna had married on December 2, 2022, and was the mother of a 10-month-old baby girl. Her husband works in Bengaluru, while she lived with her in-laws, who, according to her family, treated her kindly.

In a complaint, Prasanna's mother revealed that her daughter often called her, expressing deep concerns over her readiness for motherhood. Despite receiving supportive care from her family, Prasanna felt unprepared and overwhelmed by the balance of work and home life that early motherhood required.

Her family shared that she had been undergoing treatment, but between 10 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, she allegedly took her own life at her husband’s residence. The Karkala Rural Police Station has registered a case and is conducting further investigations.

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News Network
November 18,2024

Advisors to US President-elect Donald Trump have instructed his allies and associates to refrain from using the inflammatory language they previously employed when discussing issues related to migrants and the deportation of asylum seekers, in a bid to avoid “looking like Nazis.”

US media reports said that Trump’s associates had been asked to stop using the word “camps” to describe potential facilities that would be used to accommodate migrants rounded up in deportation operations across the country.

The reports said the US president-elect’s allies had been ordered to stave off such charged terms as they would bring to mind “Nazis,” and be used against Trump.

“I have received some guidance to avoid terms, like ‘camps,’ that can be twisted and used against the president, yes,” one Trump ally told American monthly magazine Rolling Stone.

“Apparently, some people think it makes us look like Nazis.”

The presidential advisers also cautioned surrogates and allies to keep racist terms, which have dogged Trump’s campaign, out of their remarks.

They said with Trump’s heated rhetoric that used to compare undocumented immigrants to “animals” and his slight that they are “poisoning the blood of our country,” detractors did not need to reach too far to find parallels to Nazi Germany.

Stephen Miller, who Trump tapped to be his deputy chief of staff of policy, specifically used the word “camps” to describe holding facilities that he hoped the military could put together for immigrants.

Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is chosen by Trump to be in charge of the US borders, was no stranger to such language.

“It’s not gonna be a mass sweep of neighborhoods,” he said in an interview earlier this week. “It’s not gonna be building concentration camps. I’ve read it all. It’s ridiculous.”

Becoming a little more forthright about the new government’s aggressive deportation plans, Homan likened the early days of the Trump administration to the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“I got three words for them – shock and awe,” he said. “You’re going to see us take this country back.”

Trump made immigration a central element of his 2024 presidential campaign but unlike his first run, which was mainly focused on building a border wall, he has shifted his attention to interior enforcement and the removal of undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

People close to the US president and his aides are laying the groundwork for expanding detention facilities to fulfill his mass deportation campaign promise.

The businessman-turned-politician deported more than 1.5 million people during his first term.

The figure do not include the millions of people turned away at the border under a Covid-era policy enacted by Trump and used during most of Biden’s term.

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News Network
November 10,2024

kartikbhat1.jpg

Mangaluru: A heart-wrenching tragedy unfolded in the quiet Bellayuru village on the outskirts of Mangaluru as a man’s life ended on a railway track following an apparent double murder. Authorities from the Mulki police station identified the man as Karthik Bhat, 32, whose lifeless body was discovered on the tracks with his head positioned on the rail, indicating a tragic suicide.

Nearby, police recovered keys to a scooter and a house, which eventually led them to uncover a series of chilling events. Following the trail, officers located Bhat’s scooter parked near Mahammayi Temple. Inside the vehicle, they found documents confirming his identity, including an RC, insurance papers, and his driving license.

Their search continued to Bhat's home in Pakshikere, Kemral village, where they discovered a locked room. With the keys retrieved from the tracks, police unlocked the door, only to be confronted by a horrifying sight. The bodies of Priyanka (28) and her young son Hriday (4) lay in a pool of blood, pointing to a brutal murder that occurred just hours before Bhat’s suicide.

Initial investigations suggest Bhat, beleaguered by ongoing family disputes, committed the murders of his wife and son on the evening of November 8 before tragically ending his own life. A death note found in his diary hinted at his mental state and tragic intentions.

Priyanka’s family, residing in Shivamogga, was informed of the incident. The couple, married for six years, now leaves behind grieving relatives and unanswered questions. Police have initiated formal proceedings, collecting statements from family members as they continue their investigation into the tragic sequence of events.

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