EDMONTON—Sitting 13,000 kilometres away from Friday’s Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shootings, Chand Gul felt the pain of the tragedy all the same.Gul, an Edmonton mother of three who is originally from Pakistan, lost her uncle and her cousin in last week’s attacks on two New Zealand mosques, which claimed the lives of 51 people. Among the victims were Naeem Rashid, 50, and his son Talha Rashid, 21, who Gul remembered fondly as gentlemen who loved helping others in their community. Her uncle is now being heralded as a hero for his attempts to save others before being fatally wounded.“(Naeem) was very famous in our family because of his polite nature, his kindness, his humbleness,” Gul said of her uncle, a father of three who recently completed his PhD in Islamic finance at Lincoln University in New Zealand. He died while trying to tackle the gunman outside one mosque before being shot, and is the recipient of a posthumous national Pakistani award for his bravery. His son, Talha, was also one of the victims. He was in his final year of engineering studies at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, Gul said, and was excited to begin his career and settle down to start a family. Gul mourned both her family members at a prayer event at the Pakistan Canada Association of Edmonton on Saturday night, where around 60 members of the community gathered to pay their condolences to the Christchurch victims. “That incident affected many families around the world,” Gul said. Read more: Opinion | Judith Timson: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern shows us what’s missing in most leadersOpinion | Why local Muslims feel an instant connection to those in New ZealandAs details emerge on mosque gunman, New Zealand asks what it could have done differentlyWith Gul’s personal connection to the tragedy, members of the wider Muslim community in Edmonton say they have strongly felt the pain in the aftermath of Friday’s shooting ...
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