‘Memories Will Remain’: Christchurch’s Linwood Islamic Centre Demolished
A small crowd of survivors, relatives, and community members gathered at the site on Linwood Ave to witness the end of the weatherboard building that was once a place of worship and peace.
The demolition coincided with a week-long break in the coronial inquest into the deaths of the victims.
Before the excavator began its work, widower and volunteer Imam Farid Ahmed led a prayer and kaumātua Henare Edwards said a karakia to honour the seven people who were killed in the Linwood Islamic Centre. Some of them had relatives who came to New Zealand for the first time in the past weeks to attend the inquest. They were greeted by a grim sight of stripped buildings covered in graffiti, overgrown grass, rubbish and signs of squatting, The Stuff reported.
Sheik Ashad Ali, who was visiting his son and praying in the Islamic centre when the attack happened, said he was lucky to survive as he was sitting next to two of the victims. He shed tears as he watched the building fall, but he later said it was "good that it's gone".
"The building is gone, but the memories will always be there. I'm glad the new generation won't have that bad memory," he said.
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Ahmed echoed his sentiment, saying that the peaceful worshippers who were killed there by a hate crime would be remembered, but it was time for a fresh start. A replacement mosque would offer that, he said. "We are demolishing the building, but we are not demolishing the memories of the martyrs," he said.
The Global Civilization Center Trust (GCCT), which was set up by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) not-for-profit organisation to fund its replacement, will build a $20m mosque and tolerance centre on the grounds.
The old KFC building at the front of the property, also bought by the trust, will also be demolished to make room for the new complex that would accommodate about 650 worshippers, and a multipurpose hall for prayers during events for 400 people. It would also host a mortuary, administrative offices, lecture halls, training rooms, and parking lots for more than 50 vehicles, along with a commercial building for lease to support the mosque and the cultural centre.
Source: Agencies
