The New Zealand public has become more receptive to the Muslim community almost three months on from the Christchurch terrorist attack, a Muslim student leader says.
Tomorrow will mark three months since the shootings at two Christchurch mosques in which 51 people were killed.
Canterbury University Muslim Students Association's Bariz Shah told TVNZ1's Breakfast, "The barrier has been broken down because everyone in the media portrayed Islam in such a good way. Now the common New Zealander are not afraid to just come and have a chat.
"We see that in the university as well. We've been given a prayer space in the actual library that we hadn't gotten before and now instead of us going into an confined room in isolation we can just go into a room in a library and pray. The New Zealand public are more understanding of our religion," he says.
He says there are still some negatives on the way they are treated, but says it's important to identify them and not focus on them.
"If we focus on the negatives, negatives are going to take place. What we have to do is keep our focus on the positives and as a community that is what we need to do... ...positivity breeds positivity," Mr Shah says.
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