The loss of innocence and death of reason

It is time the world let bygones be bygones. We live in an advanced world and only through peaceful living and collaboration can we progress further. Clinging to the past and holding on to the dark lessons in history will only make people bitter. Selective understanding of situations does not help assuage hostilities but spreads hatred. The recent horrific mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, is a case in point. Australian White supremacist Brenton Tarrant shot down 50 people who had congregated for their Friday prayers at two mosques. What is more disturbing is the fact that he livestreamed the act making millions of people witness to his slaughter.
What drives people like Brenton? What pushed the attacker to commit such a barbaric attack? What message did the murderer want to send? What was the mass killer who turned his massacre into a brutal public scene seeking from this adventurism of sorts? Why did he make that sign with his hand in the court, and what does it mean? What are the messages he wrote on the guns he used? Why did he make that document and send to the prime minister and publish it on Facebook? There are so many questions that haunt our minds, so many questions to be answered. And on top of it all is the question: How can one hate fellow human beings so much?
One thing is clear, the attacker is a right-wing extremist. And his act shows the changing identity of extremism. In the past, the hijacking of planes was looked upon as an act of resistance. But now it is not so. It is driven by extremism borne out of extreme beliefs and ideologies. In fact, such extreme views of people have blurred the lines between the freedom of religion and the advocacy of hatred and violence.
Yes, extremism has changed with time.
But are the people ignorant of this fact? How long would it be before we realised that acts of the far right wing are extremist acts? It's time the world got together to prevent such acts before more militant groups are formed and more atrocities are caused. People with extreme ideologies have been spewing hatred and polluting minds of people with messages of intolerance. It's time to put an end to this. The world does not want any more killing of innocent people. It's time we stood together to fight such intolerance.
malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com