New Zealand to broadcast call to prayer in solidarity with Muslims

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday said the Muslim call to prayer will be broadcast nationally this Friday to show support to the Muslims community.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab

21 March, 2019

The nation will also observe a two-minute silence in memory of the Christchurch victims [Anadolu]

The Muslim call to prayer, known as the Adhan, will broadcast on national television in New Zealand on Friday, the country's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Wednesday.

The nation will also observe a two-minute silence in memory of the Christchurch victims and women in the country will be encouraged to wear headscarves to show their support for the Muslim community.

"There is a desire to show support to the Muslim community as they return to mosques, particularly on Friday,” Arden told reporters during her second visit to Christchurch.

"To acknowledge this there will be a two minutes' silence on the same day. We will also broadcast nationally, via TVNZ and RNZ, the Adhan," she added.

Ardern said that the government is planning a memorial service for the Christchurch martyrs, adding that it wants to involve the rest of New Zealand too.

Hundreds of mostly Muslim mourners gathered on Wednesday morning at a cemetery near Linwood Mosque, for the burial of a Syrian refugee and his son.

Khalid Mustafa and his son Hamza were among the 50 people gunned down by an Austrlian white supremacist in the southern city of Christchurch last Friday.

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