LEADERS ARE DEFINED BY HOW THEY HANDLE CRISES AND INSPIRE CONFIDENCE Leaders pics: Screen Shots TheGuardian.com By Meena Yeggina
Pic by Yash Doshi
Comparing Leaders’ Reactions to a Tragedy In the wake of deep-rooted prejudice, violence and hatred toward a particular minority, was there a leader who solicited courage today, preserving the values of secular- ism, equality and, above all, humanity? It was not the current
13 hours to the tragedy. “My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the hor- rible massacre in the Mosques. 49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!” This tweet neither
condemned the terrorist, who thinks the President is “a symbol of renewed white identity,” nor is it ardent or sincere enough to provide hope to those grieving. The Washington Post admonished the president of the United States for not expressing “explicit sympathy with Muslims across the Globe.” And we agree. On the other end of the globe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response to the tragedy is even more bizarre. Five of the vic- tims amongst the 50 dead are Indians. Yet, the min- ister did not tweet any condolences. The Indian High Commission in
leader of the free world, the United States, nor the leader of the largest democracy of the world, India. It was Jacinda Ardern, a young prime minister from a relatively small country, New Zealand. During a terrorist attack on Muslims praying at the Christchurch, 50 men, women, and children were killed. In the wake of this horror, Ms. Arden and stood steadily by the minority immigrant com- munity. Wearing the com- munity’s traditional garb, the hijab, she addressed the bereaved families of the victims, trying to place some hope in their terror- ized hearts.
Prime Minister Jacinda Arden of New Zealand promised to cover the funeral costs of the 50 Christchurch terror victims, assured every family of the victims financial assistance moving forward, changed the gun laws, exhibited solidarity and inclusiveness by wearing hijab while addressing the victims’ families, refused to name the terrorist, instead focusing on the victims. Now THAT is leadership.
New Zealand identified the Indian victims as Meheboob Khokhar, Ramiz Vora, Asif Vora, Ansi Alibaba and Ozair Kadir. On the day of the incident, the Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement on Twitter that said Modi had written to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to express his “deep shock and sadness” at the attacks on “places of worship”. That’s it. Nothing personal or reassur- ing from the prime minister, who otherwise tweeted on sev-
“What has happened in Christchurch is an extraordi- nary act of unprecedented violence. It has no place in New Zealand. Many of those affected will be members of our migrant communities – New Zealand is their home – they are us,” she said. While those words were powerful, it was their implicit non-denial that stood out. She called a spade a spade: not a lone wolf or a psycho killer; just terrorist. In sharp contrast, the U.S. President’s tweet came after
22 www.indiaparentmagazine.org
April 2019
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