Christchurch mosque shooting: Naeem Rashid’s family remembers gentle hero

AS the family of Naeem Rashid watched the distressing live-stream video of the assault on the Masjid Al Noor, they identified the last act of generosity he would ever perform.

AS the family of Naeem Rashid watched the distressing live-stream video of the assault on the Masjid Al Noor, they identified the last act of generosity he would ever perform.

Rashid, 50, originally from Abbottabad in Pakistan, could be seen rushing the then unknown gunman in his mosque to wrestle the gun from him.

He wanted to save others particularly his son Talha who was also there,

But could be seen on film being shot dead at point blank range.

“It did not surprise he would do something like this,” friend Gursharan Singh told News Corp Australia yesterday.

“He was such a cool guy, always positive, always wanting to give to others and urging them to stay positive. I expected him to do this, he was a hero and would never compromise.”

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The shooting was indiscriminate, the victims young and old.

There were schoolchildren and toddlers, pensioners, a doctor, an accountant, an aircraft engineering from national carrier Air New Zealand, a goalkeeper star.

Four of Adan Ibrahin Dirie’s five children managed to escape Friday’s attacks, but the youngest four-year-old Abdullahi was killed.

The family had fled Somalia in the mid 1990s.

“You cannot imagine how I feel, he was the youngest in the family,” uncle Abdulrahman Hashi said.

Husna Ahmed was also in that mosque and was killed.

Her husband of 24 years Farid, originally from Bangladesh, also saw his loved one on the video. She was also a hero, ushering children to safety out a back door of the mosque before rushing back in to check on her husband.

A relative looks at a picture on a mobile phone of Pakistani nationals Naeem Rashid and his son Talha Naeem, right, who were killed in the attacks to the Christchurch mosques in New Zealand. Picture: AFP

He holds no grudges he just doesn’t understand why anyone would kill.

“I believe that some people, purposely, they are trying to break down the harmony we have in New Zealand with the diversity,” he said.

“But they are not going to win. They are not going to win. We will be harmonious.”

Almost an entire family from Pakistan were killed in the Linwood Masjid mosque.

Zeeshan Razam, 38, and his father, Ghulam Hussain, and mother, Karam Bibi, both aged in their 60s, were shot dead.

A care worker working with Pakistani victims’ families, who asked not to be named, said they had moved here to escape violence and terrorism of Pakistan.

“They were all too familiar of violence in our country (Pakistan) but no one imagined it could happen here,” she told News Corp.

Razam was a mechanical engineer and only moved here a few months ago, his parents were visiting him.

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Relatives talk to Nadeem Rashid, second left, bother of a Pakistani citizen Rashid Naeem, who was killed along with and his son Talha Naeem in the Christchurch mosque shooting. Picture: AP

Syed Areeb Ahmed was deeply religious and would never miss his five prayer times a day let alone the important Friday ones.

“He was the only son to his parents. He had only one younger sister … He had only started his career, but the enemies took his life,” his uncle Muhammad Muzaffar Khan said on the chartered accountant.

Software engineer Farhaj Ahsan, 30, moved to New Zealand six years ago from the city of Hyderabad in India.

Ahsan was married and had a 3-year-old daughter and infant son.

Kuwait-born Atta Elayyan, 33, who played 19 A internationals for the New Zealand indoor football Futsal Whites was about to take a futsal coaching job.

He still played futsal for the Canterbury United Futsal Dragons and was a successful app and software developer.

His abilities were recognised when he was deemed one of New Zealand’s most transformative technology and digital leaders at industry awards in 2017 and 2018.

His Canterbury and New Zealand futsal team-mate Ryan Batty paid tribute to his friend.

“Atta was a genuine, loyal, and committed man in every aspect of his life,” Batty said.

“It was a great privilege to have known and played alongside such an incredible man. He has left a big hole in the futsal community and will be forever missed.”

He is survived by wife Farah and young daughter Aya.

Lilik Abdul Hamid was an aircraft maintenance engineer at Air New Zealand.

“Lilik has been a valued part of our engineering team in Christchurch for 16 years, but he first got to know the team even earlier when he worked with our aircraft engineers in a previous role overseas,” Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon said. His loss will be deeply felt by the team.”

Hamid was married and had two children.

Originally published as Christchurch mosque shooting: Naeem Rashid’s family remembers gentle hero