THE world today is not the one we used to know three decades ago, or before the emergence of the globalisation which has linked the countries by a fast and easy communication system. We are living in different part of the world but actually we are now living in a global village, thanks to the ever-evolving technology which has made borders irrelevant. One year ago, on Friday, March 15, 2019, an Australian man driven by hatred and religious extremism killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, in New Zealand.
New Zealand is marking today the first anniversary of that inhumane act to make its people and our entire “global village” learn a brutal lesson from that crime about the real meaning of love and tolerance, respect and co-existence. A lesson that every one of us thinks already knew, but experiencing these heinous crimes make us realise something deeper. Victims were people who came to the country, seeking protection, safe asylum and they were not attacked because of being immigrants, but because of their faith which was the only common factor among them. Among them were children who did not understand what was going on and why. Under the globalisation, peace is no longer a local issue. Every painful incident and criminal attacks in any part of the world, makes the world mourn together and offer collective help. At a news conference, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday that “New Zealand and its people have fundamentally changed” since the attacks.
“The challenge for us will be ensuring in our everyday actions and every opportunity where we see bullying, harassment, racism, discrimination, calling it out as a nation,” she said. Few weeks ago, people in some parts of the world were undermining COVID-19 which has now been declared a pandemic. It was once confined to China and perhaps then to Iran, but today it has reached to over 182 countries. The number of infected people is dramatically growing despite difficult decision of border closures and suspension of flights, markets and all sorts of businesses. So the issue is same like any attack on innocent people, or disasters in any parts of the world where people show solidarity and provide support. Our understanding of the world needs to keep pace with the changes taking place in our “global village” where every day people are coming closer. Competition and conflict of interests should not govern our behaviour. There should be a huge space for values of solidarity, mercy, tolerance and peaceful co-existence.
