‘Let us not hate’
Thousands of students from Christchurch schools attend a vigil in Hagley Park, near the Deans Ave mosque, yesterday.
The horrific events of last week ‘‘do not define who we are’’ says a student behind a vigil that brought together thousands in Christchurch’s Hagley Park.
Cashmere High School head boy Okirano Tilaia coordinated the Students Uniting In Love event, describing it as ‘‘a studentled initiative to spread love and peace’’.
Students from most, if not all, of the city’s high schools attended, joining in karakia and emotional waiata before lighting candles in a show of solidarity.
‘‘With this light that I will start off with, that’s the light that we are sharing around the world,’’ Okirano said.
The premise for his action was based on Martin Luther King’s quote: ‘‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’’
Visibly emotional Muslim year 11 student Jarrod Gali, from St Thomas of Canterbury College, spoke of those who lost their lives ‘‘doing right’’. They had left an awesome legacy, he said, recalling the last words of the first victim, ‘‘hello brother’’.
‘‘Let us follow his example. Let us not hate but do the opposite, love.’’ He urged people to pray for all those affected. ‘‘That’s all we can do. And love.’’
A student representative from St Margaret’s College said paper chains made by prefects represented the idea the gunman had ‘‘tried to tear a city down like paper, but he didn’t realise that we are linked’’. ‘‘We, as youth, choose to see love . . . at the end of the day, love conquers all.’’
Okirano said he had friends who had lost loved ones and it had been really hard for them. The school held an assembly yesterday morning and students were being well supported by teachers, staff and counsellors, he said. Yesterday, Cashmere principal Mark Wilson addressed the more than 2000 students who attend the school, in the aftermath of Friday’s terror attack.
Seven people associated with the school were believed to have been killed or injured. Three of those were current students.
Year 10 student, Sayyad Milne, and year 12 student, Hamza Mustafa, were killed. Mustafa’s father, Khaled Mustafa, was also killed and his younger brother, who is also a Cashmere High student, was being treated in Christchurch Hospital for gunshot wounds to his leg.
Wilson confirmed former student Tariq Omar, 24, who attended between 2008 and 2012, had died, while a student’s father had been killed in the attack, and another was injured.
Wilson said Milne joined the school last year and was ‘‘an awesome kid’’. ‘‘He had kind eyes, a big heart and a thick mop of black hair. He loved football and also indoor futsal and he was an accomplished goalkeeper.
‘‘He was studying hard and planning to be an architect or an engineer.’’
Mustafa joined the school halfway through 2018 after fleeing the Syrian civil war with his family.
‘‘He was an excellent horse rider. He rode equestrian events in his home country and he aspired to be a vet.’’