‘‘The fact that people believe New Zealand is not a racist place, they’re probably living in a fairyland.’’
One year on from the deadly terror attack against Muslims in Christchurch, Mr Rizwan said New Zealand still had a long way to go in terms of tolerance of diversity.
‘‘It’s not something new to us, especially our sisters, because they wear the hijab so people do recognise that you are a Muslim,’’ he said.
Members of the Muslim community had reported racist incidents to police around the country prior to the attack that killed 51 people.
He was aware of incidents around the country of Muslims being targeted after the attacks.
In one incident, a woman walking to a mosque was punched in the stomach. Another person was verbally abused and told ‘‘go back to your country’’.
Social media was another platform where racism existed, he said.
‘‘The least we can do is just keep on educating people.’’
Mr Rizwan had just left Dunedin’s Al Huda Mosque on the afternoon of March 15, 2019, when he heard there had been a shooting in Christchurch.
It was a shock to the system, he said - not just that mosques were targeted, but that there had been a shooting in New Zealand at all.
He knew many of those affected, including Dunedin man Mustafa Boztas, who was shot in the leg.
The safety of the Dunedin mosque became a prime concern in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
It was only later they would learn the alleged terrorist, who was living in Dunedin at the time, had originally planned to target it instead.
‘‘That was really scary, it would be scary for anyone, that this guy had been living among us and had been planning this for the past two years.
‘‘That was a scary thought right there, it was happening on our doorstep.’’
As the first anniversary approached, he said members of the community did still talk about the attack.
But they also just wanted to move on, he said.
‘‘We’re not going to stop doing what we’re doing.’’
