Latest updates on the aftermath of the Christchurch shootings.
Two surviviors of vicious mosque attacks nine years ago have been overwhelmed by the solidarity and warmth shown by New Zealanders - something they didn't receive in their own country.
Zulfiqar Ahmad, 34, and Mirza Ahmad, 38, were attending Friday prayer at two different mosques in Lahore in Pakistan onMay 28, 2010 when gunmen started shooting the congregation. About 98 people were killed in the attacks.
Zulfiqar huddled in a corridor for 45 minutes with 70 others while the attacks happened in the next room at the Bait-ul-Noor mosque. Mirza was shot seven times at the Darul Zikr mosque and still has a bullet in his leg reminding him of the horriffic attack.
Zulfiqar said it took him a long time to return to Friday prayer and he didn't go back to the mosque until he returned from studying in Pakistan a few years later.
Mirza spent more than four weeks in hospital and had several operations on his arm and leg.
Both men eventually fled Pakistan because they no longer felt safe being part of the minority Ahmadi Muslim sect in their own country.
Zulfiqar married a New Zealander in 2014 and moved to Auckland and Mirza, his wife, and three children arrived in Hamilton as refugees in 2017.
Both men have both been shaken by the horriffic attacks in Christchurch on Friday killing 50 followers and injuring many more, and while it has bought back their own horriffic memories, they say they still feel safe to pray here.
Zulfiqar said there was a vast contrast between how the New Zealand public and Government has responded to the attacks compared to Pakistan and it was this that made him feel confident returning to his mosque to pray.
Survivor of the Pakistan mosque attacks in 2010 Zulfiqar Ahmed says the support shown by kiwis will help the Christchurch victims. Photo / Supplied
He said the 2010 attacks were never condemned in Pakistan and recalled parts of Lahore having sweets to celebrate the attacks on the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.
"They (New Zealanders) don't care about who you are in terms of your ethnic background or religious background ...
"Over here I wouldn't be afraid going to the mosque even this afternoon or tomorrow because I know that the support that we've got not only from New Zealanders, but from the law-enforcement I agencies that I can feel a little bit safe."
Zulfiqar said even when he called his manager still shaking several hours after escaping from the Lahore attack he wasn't given any sympathy.
Whereas following the Christchurch attacks he received a call from his manager checking to see if he was okay, despite the fact he lived in a different city to where it happened.
He urged people affected by the attacks to return to their daily lives as soon as they could and and realise that it was "just one bad person".
Mirza said he had felt utterly safe in New Zealand until the last month. He was standing outside his children's school where he was abused and told to go home by the same parent two days in a row, and then last week two mosques were attacked.
"But otherwise no fear. New Zealand is the safest country and the greatest country." He still wore his Islamic shirt proudly and was proud to call Hamilton his home.
Mirza said his continued faith in Allah helped him move on from the shootings and encouraged the victims of the latest attacks to to do the same, as well as cherishing the memories of their friends and families who were killed.
Dr Nadeem Ahmad, general secretary for the Ahmadiyaa Muslim Community, said the whole of the Muslim community had been overwhelmed by the love coming from New Zealand.
Dr Ahmad said while his mosque in Wiri, South Auckland had not been affected people had laid bunches of flowers, showing their support.
Dr Ahmad had personally been contacted by colleagues checking if he was okay and sharing their support.
"I want to bring out the positive out of it really. Attacks will happen unfortunately and people will have twisted reasons for doing things that they end up doing, but how the New Zealand public, how the New Zealand Government respond is something we really need to highlight.
"We are not even directly involved in the current attacks. We are in Auckland. We have a small community in Christchurch, but they weren't at those particular mosques. But even our mosque has received messages of support and people have left flowers outside our gates in Auckland. We have been inundated by the support we are getting from churches and other religious groups. Just random people are sending emails.
"This is what sets the country apart, the nation apart from maybe elsewhere."
