Venkat Raman
Auckland, September 5, 2021
The Hindu Council of New Zealand strongly condemns the terrorist act by a lone perpetrator inspired by ISIS extremist ideologies in Auckland, President Vinod Kumar said.
The following is his statement:
On behalf of the entire Hindu community in New Zealand, we express our deep shock at the horrendous act that affected the lives of innocent individuals in our country.
We offer Aroha and well wishes for the speedy recovery to those who are in medical care as a result of the violent attack.
On the afternoon of Friday, September 3, 2021, at a time when Aucklanders were also doing everything possible to help eliminate Covid-19 from the community, the extremist ideology disrupted many lives.
Value for people
As an organisation that values the contribution of individual communities and societies that help in making a stronger New Zealand, we strongly condemn this act of terror that unfolded.
Extremist ideologies have no place in our lives, in our communities and in our New Zealand that we all work tirelessly to strengthen.
We call upon all community leaders to stand in solidarity with the government of the day, with the New Zealand Police and the laws of the land to reject any ideologies that don’t encourage social cohesion.
Salutation to people
We stand in solidarity with the New Zealand Police and thank them for acting as swiftly as they did to prevent this from becoming a greater tragedy. The courageous staff of Countdown and those who came to the assistance of the injured, your actions are commendable.
Hindu Council of New Zealand, together with the Hindu community of New Zealand stands with the families of the victims and with all New Zealand to reject hatred, terrorism and the perpetuation of any form of discrimination.
We want to ensure that the values of compassion, pluralism, acceptance and unity that New Zealand has always been proud of is strengthened and ingrained further into the fabric of the country.
At this time, we would like to offer a Vedic prayer:
Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Santu ni Ramayah
Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu, Ma Kaschit Dukha Bhag Bhavet
Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shanti
May all be happy, may all be healthy
May all see what is uplifting, may no one suffer in any way
May there be peace, peace, peace
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh New Zealand Inc
The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh New Zealand joins Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and all fellow New Zealanders in strongly condemning the violent attack on Friday, September 3, 2021 at a supermarket in New Lynn Mall, Auckland, President Shrikant Bhave said.
We commend the Police who acted swiftly to minimise the harm by neutralising the attacker.
Seven shoppers were injured, some of them seriously and are in the hospital in critical condition. This act of terror is against humanity and there is no place for such acts in New Zealand. We pray for the speedy recovery of the victims.
Our prayers are also with victims, their whanau of the victims and those who witnessed this horrible attack.
In this time of grief and need, HSS NZ Inc joins others and extend their heartfelt support to the families who are affected by this terrible incident.
As New Zealanders, let us all stand together as a proud nation of many migrant communities, sharing the common values of love, compassion, co-existence in harmony & let no act of terrorism divide us. It is time to be more vigilant that no divisive forces allow us to succumb to these threats and join hands to fight against these forces.
