On Wednesday, New Zealand observed the fourth anniversary of the 2019 terrorist attack on a mosque and an Islamic center.
The victims of the horrific terror attack are always in their minds, according to Andrew Little, the government’s lead coordinating minister for the response to the Royal Commission’s Report on the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques in 2019.
“The Government is dedicated to decreasing the threat of terrorism and violent extremism to New Zealanders,” said Little in a statement.
He also stated that he will be in Australia on this anniversary day for the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security, which will be attended by Australia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
Brenton Tarrant, an Australian white nationalist, killed 51 people and injured 40 more at Christchurch’s Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre on March 15, 2019.
In the first such ruling in the island country, he was sentenced to life in jail without the chance of parole until 2020.
Tarrant, on the other hand, filed an appeal against his life sentence in court last year. The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) denounced his move as an attempt to re-traumatize the victims and the nation.
The association’s most recent statement, delivered on the fourth anniversary of the attack on Wednesday, declared that the entire nation honors the “shahada,” or martyrs.
“”Today is a time when the entire nation remembers the families of the shahada and the terror attack survivors,” said FIANZ President Ibrar Sheikh in a statement posted on the organization’s website.
FIANZ Chairperson Abdur Razzaq remarked in the same statement: “On this fourth anniversary of the tragedy, we are also cognizant of the Royal Commission Recommendations and the need to ensure our country’s long-term social cohesion and national security.”