MUSLIMS remain haunted by the mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, last week.
These were the sentiments echoed by Fiji Muslim League representative Mohammed Dean while speaking at the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination panel discussion in Lautoka on Thursday night.
It was a sombre occasion for those present as they remembered the lives lost in the terrorist attack in New Zealand. Mr Dean said Islam was a religion of peace.
“Islam has been completely distorted by not only the extremists and the fanatics, but it is also distorted and completely misunderstood by the ones who follow Islam and call themselves Muslims,” he said.
“It is sad this happened in New Zealand, a place where a lot of Fijian Muslims are currently residing. As a matter of fact, if you go to South Auckland, people call it Little Fiji, you don’t feel you are in New Zealand, you feel you are at home.
“It is sad this happened in a country renowned for its safety. Our minds as Muslims are disturbed by what happened.
“As Muslims, we condemn any form of terror.”
The mass shooting, a white supremacist terror attack against the Muslim community, has been attributed to the growth of Islamophobia in society.
“This ideology of Islamophobia has rooted itself, in such a negative extreme way, that we have to witness an event like this in one of the safest countries,” Mr Dean said.
“We grieve for everyone, but also for the Muslims from Fiji who passed away.”
