Two remembrance services are to be held in Invercargill tomorrow to mark the anniversary of last year’s terror attacks, but only one is open to the public.
Initiator of the Southland Multicultural Council [SMC] service, Hafswa Hemed said she wanted to create an event where members of the public were welcome.
The mosque service was for members only, but she felt the need for people to be able to come together "as one".
"I am a Muslim community member and I started this event ... When we had this incident, it was not only the Muslim community that grieved. We got support from all over the place."
Earlier in the week, Southland Imam Reza Abdul-Jabbar told the Southland Express there had been no consultation with the organisers of this second event, to be held only hours before the mosque service.
He said the event hosted by the Murihiku Islamic Trust and the Southland Muslim Association (SMA) was open to the public.
Ms Hemed disagreed — she said they had talked about it and received endorsement to go ahead.
This information was not given to the Southland Express by Thursday’s publication.
SMC co-ordinator Meggy Bartlett-McBride had said there was consultation with SMA president Mohammed Sahizad.
The public SMC event would be held at Southern Institute of Technology Hansen Hall on Sunday, at 4pm.
Mr Sahizad confirmed the mosque service would be private.
