Heroes like Abdul Aziz are beacons of light for all of us following the darkness of the Christchurch attacks

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I want to express my respect and admiration to Abdul Aziz, originally from Afghanistan, who was in the congregation at the Linwood mosque in Christchurch with his four sons last Friday afternoon, and who, after hearing shots outside, grabbed a credit-card machine and ran outside to confront the gunman.

I had wondered why the death toll at the Linwood mosque (seven people) was much lower than that at the Al Noor mosque. Aziz is the reason.

I also appreciate that the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, appeared in public yesterday wearing a veil, sending a clear message of solidarity with our Muslim community, and thank her for her words of compassion and inclusion towards our Muslim sisters and brothers who must be suffering a lot of grief and fear at the moment.

I want to say to our Muslim community that I am very sorry for what happened on Friday. I am sorry for the pain you all must be feeling, especially those who have lost their loved ones in this terrible tragedy. The prime minister said many of you are refugees who came here, no doubt hoping for a peaceful life.

God willing, such a terrible tragedy will never happen in Aotearoa, or elsewhere, ever again, and you will all be safe here.

I hope our government moves quickly to tighten our very lax gun laws, which played a part in these horrendous massacres. I trust any semi-automatic firearms or other military-type weapons will be banned and recalled as they were in Australia in 1996 after the massacre at Port Arthur in Tasmania.

It is awful that a tragedy like this had to happen to bring about a sensible change to our gun laws. If it was up to me, I would ban all guns, except for the police, and then only in emergency situations.

Your brother and ours, Aziz, is a beacon of light for all of us, both here and internationally.

He said modestly after the event that he thought anyone else would have done the same in that situation. I doubt it. A few other remarkable human beings, perhaps.

May the souls of those who died in this terrible tragedy rest in peace.

Genevieve Forde
Auckland, New Zealand

Without doubt (or hesitation) New Zealand’s highest civilian award for valour should be awarded to the incredibly brave – unarmed – young Muslim man who sacrificed his own life some days ago.

By rushing at the heavily armed, unspeakably heinous terrorist in a New Zealand mosque, he was able to save many lives.

In stark contrast, Australian senator Fraser Anning should be widely condemned for not only the insensitivity, but the timing of, and circumstances of his delivery of his comments re the NZ massacre.

Finally, the young fool filming his own attack upon Anning fully deserved a good smack in the ear (however, not near strangulation) not only for his actions but for the stupidity of “victimising” Anning, thus increasing hero-worship of the senator in the eyes of potentially violence-prone, extremist entities.

Howard Hutchins
Melbourne, Australia

Social media and terrorism

Could it be possible that the horror of the New Zealand terror attacks will wake us up to the debased reality of the Facebook fantasy?

Social media, unvetted by responsible adults, is little more than an electronic publishing platform for the puerile scratchings of ablution-block bullies, flushed by having their dunny-door diatribes and toilet-wall tirades smeared across the unwiped screens of young and vulnerable minds.

Mark Dyer
Rockingham

Newsnight and the far right

The decision of the BBC to give a platform to Generation Identity on the same day as the Christchurch terror attack is reprehensible.

The BBC has an obsession with fair balance. However, this doesn’t mean they have any need to give a platform to someone who, as the far-right Generation Identity spokesperson said on Newsnight, that they would continue to advocate for a “homogeneous society” and the incidents such as the one like the Christchurch attack were “inevitable” if Muslim immigration continues.

It was astonishing that he claimed that Generation Identity “condemns violence in all circumstances and contexts”, yet other news networks have reported in detail the outright violence of some of their members in France.

Generation Identity has been banned on Facebook in most of Europe – that our national taxpayer-funded broadcaster is giving them airtime is sickening.

Chris Key
Address supplied

European elections

The Independent, and other newspapers, have reported that the UK might be required to take part in the European elections in May, under the scenario of a prolonged Brexit delay.

Ukip had previously done very well in European elections, as it was perceived as the rallying point for all the Eurosceptics.

May I humbly suggest to the leader of the Liberal Democrats that, if they were to go to these European elections in a coalition with the Greens and the Independent Group and under a Remain list name, there would be considerable support.

These are not normal times and the situation requires going beyond the usual party politics arrangements.

Giuseppe Enrico Bignardi
Durham

The Tories need a new logo

Another Conservative constituency party has turned against its MP over the EU.

Isn’t it time the party replaced its logo of an oak tree with an ostrich to reflect the fact that most of its members are burying their heads in the sand in ignoring the overwhelming evidence that Brexit, whether hard or soft, is against our national interest?

Of course, it’s a myth that these birds behave in this fashion. But so is the belief that Brexit would be good for Britain.

Roger Hinds
Surrey

Wetherspoon’s problems go beyond Remainers

Tim Martin may well be right to blame anti-Brexiteers for JD Wetherspoon’s problems – but I suggest his reasons are wrong.

Less than 40 per cent of voters supported leaving Europe and yet he has gratuitously offended those who voted to Remain and possibly some of those who did not vote.

Candour in business may be admirable but it is not often wise. Remember Gerald Ratner?

Joanna Pallister
Address supplied