SYDNEY: At least 49 worshippers have lost their lives in the act of extreme violence at two New Zealand mosques on Friday.
28-year-old gunman Brenton Tarrant, an Australian-born white man identified as a “an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Video and a ‘vile 73-page manifesto’ circulating online — but not officially confirmed — suggested the shooter had streamed his attack on Facebook Live.
Many on social media reacts with disgust at the mosque attacks questioning what will be the reaction of the whole world if the shooting is done by some Muslims.
[also_read url=”https://www.siasat.com/news/mosque-shooting-massacre-product-islamophobia-and-marginalisation-muslims-1477522/”]Mosque shooting: The massacre a product of Islamophobia and marginalisation of Muslims[/also_read]
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also condemned the attacks saying that “terrorism does not have a religion”.
Later, in a tweet, he said he blamed “these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11 where Islam and 1.3 bn Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror by a Muslim”.
Here are some tweets:
I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11 where Islam & 1.3 bn Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror by a Muslim. This has been done deliberately to also demonize legitimate Muslim political struggles. https://t.co/5bBREoayLz
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 15, 2019
https://twitter.com/stevenzzhou/status/1106394483740930048
White guy does it "Gunman"
Arabic guy does it "Terrorist"Define Terrorist:
It is the use of violence or threat of violence in the pursuit of political, religious, ideological or social objectives.#NewZealandMosqueshooting#christchurchMosqueAttack pic.twitter.com/Bgw570YC3z— Alam Zeb Afridi (@alamzebmba) March 15, 2019
Devasted by the frightening attack! Now the shooter will be considered as mentally ill??? #christchurchMosqueAttack
— Rizwan E Alam (@rizwanealam) March 15, 2019
This shooting is a result of the deliberate spread of misinformation, ignorance, hate, xenophobia spewed by political pundits, racist politicians, media personalities. They’ve directly caused these attacks and put the safety of communities in jeopardy. #ChristchurchMosqueAttack
— Assia (@Libyan4life) March 15, 2019
True they would have left the country and if this shooting is done by some Muslim whole world would have reacted differently 😊
— Mirza Saqib Baig (@saqibwalled) March 15, 2019
https://twitter.com/RealOilsheikh/status/1106425348525187072
https://twitter.com/ifaz_nur/status/1106412065713864704
According to latest reports, New Zealand police detained three men “connected to this attack”, but have not provided their identities. One person, a male in his late 20s, has been charged with murder, said New Zealand police Commissioner Mike Bush.
In what appeared to be the worst attack against Muslims in a western country, witnesses spoke of victims being shot at close range, with women and children believed to be among those killed.
Two IEDs (improvised explosive devices) were also found and neutralised by the military, police said.