On a quiet Friday March 15, 2019 afternoon 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant, armed with automatic weapons, opened indiscriminate fire at close quarters on men, women and children inside the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. Fifteen minutes later, a second attack unfolded only five kilometers away at the Linwood Islamic Center. 50 innocent Muslims were massacred at the two mosques and dozens injured. Tarrant had equipped himself with a head-mounted camera to live-stream the unfolding violence in grotesque and graphic detail.
The reaction of New Zealand’s Prime Minister (PM) Jacinda Ardern was something quite extraordinary. Displaying tremendous leadership qualities above and beyond the ordinary she quickly visited the sites personally for meeting those affected. In keeping with the highest tenets of humanity, she has continued making headlines for her statesmanship, her courage and empathy in the aftermath of the deadly attacks. Empathic and decisive in describing the shooting as a “terrorist attack”, perhaps to the chagrin of many world leaders who give only proforma lip-service remarks whenever an attacker is white, praise for her public response as a leader poured in from all over the world. It also brought into focus the love, sympathy and compassionate response of the people of New Zealand.
Jacinda Ardern demonstrated to the world how both govts and leaders should react in such crises. Condoling with survivors and the heirs of victims immediately after the tragic event, she hugged and consoled them about their loss, promising them the State’s full support. Wearing a head scarf in the Parliament Session on March 19 she began her speech with the Muslim greeting of “Salaam Alaikum” while a cleric recited verses from the Holy Quran.
In a display of solidarity with their Muslim minority. New Zealand paused for two minutes of silence on Friday 22nd March to commemorate the victims of the mosque shootings. New Zealanders in their thousands belonging to all the faiths gathered at Friday prayers opposite the Al Noor Mosque. Taking the lead from PM Ardern, thousands of non-Muslim women wore headscarves at this venue and also at other events at mosques around New Zealand. Deeply moved, the Imam of Al Noor mosque, Gamal Fouda could only say, “Thank you for holding our families close and honouring us with a simple scarf.” In gratitude for her actions, her image embracing a Muslim affected by the attack was projected on to Dubai’s most iconic building the Burj Khalifa under the word “Peace” in Arabic and English on March 22.
Jacinda Ardern’s approach and handling of the tragedy cut across all cultural, religious and ethnic divides. Moving to tighten her country’s gun laws to ban all types of semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles, less than a week after the tragedy she expected new legislation to be in place by 11 April, “Our history changed forever. Now, our laws will too.” This she did despite receiving threats for her life via social media thus demonstrating that such hatred has to be faced boldly by all. She also ordered an independent judicial inquiry into whether police and intelligence services could have prevented the Christchurch mosque attacks. Such was the power of her words of love and unity that a private school in Auckland, the “Diocesan School for Girls” was moved to change its dress code to explicitly allow hijabs. A glowing editorial in “The New York Times” praised PM Ardern’s handling the fallout of the grisly event and called on all world leaders to condemn racism.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the person who in the preceding year “shall have done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses”. By her demeanour and conduct on how leaders must respond in mass casualty terrorist attacks she has set a new bar for dealing with terrorism, an example for other world leaders to emulate. As a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize MS Ardern stands heads and shoulders above many other aspirants for the honour. Her actions in the wake of the Christchurch massacre should stand her in good stead to qualify for this prestigious honour.
Politicized after the Cold War, the Nobel Peace Prize occasionally triggered controversy while there have been some notable omissions as well. Politics must be set aside to restore this award’s lost luster and the Prize given to someone truly deserving. By her human display of love and compassion transcending all barriers and bringing the people of New Zealand (and indeed in the world) together, Jacinda Ardern, has become a household name across the globe. The Nobel Peace Prize for the truly noble MS Ardern!
