Manitobans gathering to remember slain Muslims

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This article was published 29/01/2018 (2950 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans are gathering today at the legislature to remember the mass murder of Muslims at a Quebec City mosque one year ago.

Communities across Canada will gather today to commemorate the massacre of six Muslim worshippers during evening prayers at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City on Jan. 29, 2017.

Azzeddine Soufiane, 57; Khaled Belkacemi, 60; Ibrahima Barry, 39; Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42; Abdelkrim Hassane, 41; and Boubaker Thabti, 44, were killed when a lone gunman entered the mosque and starting shooting people. Several others praying at the mosque were injured.

It happened one year ago, but for many Muslim Canadians, it is still a raw wound because Islamaphobic incidents continue to happen.

“You’re always in a state of alert about what can happen, what may happen,” said Shahina Siddiqui, who is helping to organize tonight’s memorial event at 7 p.m. in the rotunda of the Manitoba legislature.

“That state of apprehension — it hasn’t gone away,” said Siddiqui, who is also president of the Islamic Social Services Association (ISSA).

A countrywide campaign strives to have Canadians remember, every Jan. 29, what happened to the victims of Islamaphobia gunned down on that date in their house of worship.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims, more than 70 Muslim organizations and more than two dozen community groups have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking his government to designate Jan. 29 as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia.

The proponents say it’s based on a precedent — the designation of Dec. 6 as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women to mark the anniversary of the 1989 shooting massacre of 14 women at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal.

“We have a tendency as human beings to get complacent,” Siddiqui said.

“This is about making sure that we remember this is one of the worst massacres in recent history in Canada.”

It would show the families of those massacred on Jan. 29 that Canada stands with them, she said.

It would also raise awareness of violence and acts of hate towards Muslim Canadians, she said.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric and Islamaphobic tweets are having an impact in Canada, she said.

“The hate incidents have gone up and people like Trump make it seem OK and acceptable and embolden people,” Siddiqui said.

“We need to have conversations around the issue of Islamaphobia.

“The feeling hasn’t gone away that we haven’t seen the worst of it.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

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