Faith leaders clasp hands in a show of defiance to terrorists
FAITH LEADERS held hands and paused for a moment of silence in a show of defiance following the Manchester arena attack.
The Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, and Imam Irfan Chishti, of Manchester Central Mosque, were among the religious figures who joined crowds of Mancunians to express their unity.
The multi-faith vigil in memory of the victims of Monday’s attack took place in St Ann’s Square. Piles of flowers left in tribute have been moved from Albert Square, where thousands of people gathered on Tuesday night, to the area in front of St Ann’s Church.
The short service was led by Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, who asked the crowd to raise and hold their hands to “send a positive image” of the city.
“Let’s show solidarity and send a message to the world,” he said.
Speaking after the vigil, Mr Shafiq said that he believed the “human instinct” of holding hands defied religious labels and divisions.
He said: “The terrorist wanted to divide our community on Monday night, he killed innocent people and wanted to cause division and friction, and we are not going to allow him to succeed.
“We are going to stand together as one community, as one people, and show the world that we are united.”
The vigil was briefly disrupted as a woman – visibly upset – repeatedly shouted from the crowd: “It’s the Government.”
Imam Chishti, who was speaking at the time, invited the woman forward for a hug before she was quietened by another member of the crowd.
Faith leaders stood on a bench as they spoke in the square – metres from the circular sea of flowers, balloons, cards and tributes which has formed.
Manchester City Council said it had moved the flowers from Albert Square to allow the pole vault and long jump events at this weekend’s Great City Games to go ahead as planned.