Daily Times

It is Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, who has become the first drop of rain. It is she who has thrown her weight behind the Muslims in the most devastating times of their lives.

A gauntlet was thrown down to her by a ruthless and cold-blooded terrorist, who brutally sprayed the Muslims with bullets on Friday in two mosques at Christchurch, martyring 50 of them and injuring many. She took up the gauntlet bravely, going the extra mile in addressing the concerns, problems, travails and woes facing the Muslims.

She was under tremendous pressure to address the immense damage caused to the image of New Zealand by the attack and to give a clear message to the Muslim community, healing their wounds and pulling them out of the state of shock and profound distress, they were plunged into by the terrorist. They say, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Much to the relief of the Muslim community and to the enormous surprise of the world, she did not mince her words, calling a spade a spade; she condemned the terrorist attack in so many words and termed the assailant “a terrorist”. Also, she said that the day of the attack would go down in New Zealand’s history as a darkest one. This was her first reaction.

Teary-eyed, swathed in black shalwar qameez, covering her head with dupatta, she visited the Muslim community of Christchurch in showing her solidarity and support with them. She listened to them quite attentively and made an impromptu speech, promising to address the situation immediately. Videos show her embracing a woman while her facial expressions clearly betraying that she was deeply saddened by the loss and the deaths inflicted on the Muslim community. These symbolic steps would have been sufficient enough for the Muslim community in Newin New Zealand in particular and for the Muslims across the world in general, not least when they are facing attacks arising out of the Islamophobia and xenophobia on a day-to-day basis across the Western World. Needless to add that the Western World largely acts as a silent spectator when it comes to dealing with such incidents, sitting on its hands and refusing to term the assailants “terrorists”. And in point of fact, people irrespective of their religion and creed heaped praised on Jacinda for taking the initial steps in assuaging and alleviating the excruciating mental torture, suffering and unspeakable pain of the bereaved Muslim families. Nonetheless, she did not regard these steps sufficient. She had more drastic steps to take.

As for the Muslim countries’ leadership, they should learn a lesson from Ardern on how to handle such incidents who healed the emotional scars of the victims and their bereaved families

She has walked the walk instead of talking the talk: in her address to the Parliament immediately after the attack, she began by a Muslim greeting, “Assalam-o-Alikum”, declining to name the terrorist and had said that she would not call his name no matter what, and he would be left nameless forever, winning the hearts of the Muslims across the world. Additionally, she announced that stricttightest gun laws would be introduced in order to ban the military style guns. Later on, she lived up to her promise, putting in place a ban in this regard. More pleasant surprise was lying in store for the world. For the first time in the history of the Western World, Quran was recited in a western parliament; New Zealand’s parliament, while all were listening quietly and attentively, and the female members were wearing dupattas, bowing their heads in respect. Azaan was broadcasted across New Zealand as well, while NZ’s women were standing with dupattas on their heads.There is no two ways about it: these are all unprecedented steps. People are still in awe. Much ink has been spilled in eulogiszing Ardern Jacinda, who has taken unparalleled steps for addressing the scourge of the terrorism. She really deserves a Noble Peace Prize and her name should be written with golden words in the history. She has become a face of the change, compassion, empathy, humanity and resistance; a visionary leader, who does not look the other way in the crunch time.

The terrorist that attacked New Zealand made an attempt to tear apart the social fabric in which the country New Zealand as a nation is woven and to drive a wedge between the Muslim community and the rest of New Zealanders. However, he failed and failed miserably. The following On the very next Friday, after the attack, the world saw a spectacle never witnessed before: thousands of New Zealanders attended the fFriday prayers, standing behind the rows of the worshipers, thereby strenuously rejecting the ideology of hatred adopted by the terrorist. MIn the meanwhile, New Zealand’s female reporters and anchorwomen-women wore head scarves to give live coverage/reporting of the friday prayers. Not only this, the country fell silent for two minutes to remember the tragedy that had shaken New Zealand to the core, sending shock waves across the world.

That she has set an extraordinary example goes without saying. Now it is for the other countries to follow suit. The United States,U.S.A., which has so far failed miserably to address the thorny problems stemming from the Islamophobia, xenophobia, white supremacy and gun violence, must take a leaf out of New Zealand’s book. On the one hand, a single incident had positively changed the New Zealand’s outlook on gun laws while and, on the other, countless incidents of this nature similar nature in the US happened in U.S.A. have not shocked it her out of its her lethargy and inaction. As for the Muslim countries’ leadership supremos, they should learn a lesson from Ardern on Jacinda how to handle effectively and efficaciously such like incidents who, healeding the emotional scars of the victims and their bereaved families.

The writer is a Lahore-based lawyer