2 Years On
63072000 seconds
1051200 minutes
17520 hours
730 days
24 months
2 years
2 years by the date today. "10 bodies found in Al Noor mosque more casualties anticipated". "Approximately 190 worshippers in Al Noor mosque waiting for help". "25 bodies rescued so far more anticip................
19 minutes. 51 dead end 41 injured.
Numbers. We became numbers. We became bodies. 19 minutes and do hell know how many years, how many hours of hatred led to these 19 minutes. 15th March 2019. We are Muslims, we get together every Friday and pray. Pray for peace, safety and pray to show gratitude to God. Maybe a lot of my brothers and sisters prayed because they were grateful to be in New Zealand, a peace-loving safe place. Maybe some of my brothers or sisters wanted to go home to their families after Jummah (the Friday prayer) and that’s where they were content. And maybe that unity bothers some people. Maybe some people……
There were never enough words to express this pain, never good explanations to make sense of it. Our belief was subject of hatred which came before who we are, that we live in New Zealand and that we contribute to New Zealand. That when we are looked at, we are the “others” or “other kinds”. As someone who moved to New Zealand at 13years of age, I have always heard and seen discrimination and islamophobia around me. Hidden behind "this is not us" and "they are us", we have ignored issues. I was made feel to be grateful over “complaining” because we are at least “better here”. This day still reminds me that New Zealand is still in the phase of “They are us”. We are “allowed” to mourn but not “complain” because hey “This is Not New Zealand” a one off event? I am lucky to be not a number this time. I am lucky because after a hectic everyday life of an average girl in New Zealand, I come home to my family just like I have planned. I am still being able to hide behind “they are us”, unlike Ansi Alibva, Hosne Ahmed, Sayyad Milne, Mucad Ibrahim and 51 other……..
