New zealand terror

New zealand terror

Unite against hate, terror and gun violence. Be wary of attempts to mainstream extremism.

The terror attack targeting mosques in pacific New Zealand indicates the spread of hate crimes to seemingly every corner of the world, an epidemic that nations cannot ignore. In this instance, the terror was perpetrated by a white supremacist on Muslims praying at their mosques; and among the 49 killed in the attacks were many Indian or Indian-origin people, while Bangladesh’s cricket team narrowly escaped.

Racism, Islamophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment appear to be the proximate reasons for the attacks, while New Zealand police appear to have not tracked the gunman’s social media rants or the ease of procuring semi-automatic weapons in their country. The government has promised to ban these killing machines which civilians have no business to own. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has admitted the fault in her country’s lax gun control laws.

An equally vile and gruesome aspect of the gunman’s conduct was the tactic of live streaming his act of terror. Such actions are intended to send a twin message: to terrorise people and to inspire those attracted to violent ideals. The tactics of the Islamic State in broadcasting atrocities, or the Jaish-e-Muhammed which released a video clipping of the Pulwama bomber, or the Hindutva fringe groups that capture their lynchings on camera seek to draw out more bloodlust from partisans. These call for societies everywhere to isolate terror and yet, countries like Pakistan and China continue to shower patronage on terrorists like Masood Azhar.

Ardern has embraced the migrant and refugee community as New Zealand’s own while rejecting those perpetrating violence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was right to promptly issue condemnation and stress that “hatred and violence have no place in diverse and democratic societies”. Some Indians may be wistful that their prime minister who they see abroad is not the same PM they see at home, where too hate and divisiveness run amok but condemnations are few and far between (famously, a Harvard-educated minister in the Union government even garlanded lynch convicts without inviting any action against himself). Hate crimes endanger the prospect of modern societies coexisting peacefully amid ethnic and religious differences. Preventing lone wolf attacks isn’t always possible but leaders like Ardern show capacity for the healing touch – which deserves emulation in India too.