The Federation of the Islamic Associations of New Zealand has led condemnation of Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki's call on social media to purge Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims from the country.
In a video posted on Facebook on Wednesday, Tamaki accuses Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of purging Christians in the South Asian nation and burning down church buildings.
"I think we should reciprocate in kind. Let's purge New Zealand of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims," Tamaki said.
"And, while we're at it, if they're burning churches down, why don't we burn mosques and their temples down? Tit for tat."
In what it described as its strongest statement to media since the Christchurch mosque shootings in March 2019, the Federation of the Islamic Associations of New Zealand called Tamaki's comments "verbal bullets of incitement and provocation".
"Hateful rhetoric and the normalisation of verbal bullets towards religious and ethnic minorities can create ... conditions for violent extremism," the statement said.
"New Zealand cannot afford to ignore those lessons.
"The March 15 terrorist used the same language, and we are seeing history repeating itself."
The federation called on the government to invest in practical social cohesion programmes, developed in partnership with faith and ethnic communities, to strengthen long-term understanding and resilience.
"We encourage social debate and education, which are the most effective tools to prevent the rise of violent extremism and hateful violence in New Zealand," the statement said.
The organisation also called for the government to review New Zealand's current legislative settings and implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch mosque attacks, particularly those relating to social cohesion, countering extremism and protecting vulnerable communities.
Race Relations Commissioner Melissa Derby said she was "utterly appalled" by Tamaki's comments.
"This is not the kind of behaviour and rhetoric we should accept in this country, and it needs to stop," Derby said.
"Many religious and faith communities have shared with me their experiences of growing hatred, intolerance, abuse and harassment towards their community in recent years," she said.
"The rhetoric in this video raises serious safety and wellbeing concerns for impacted communities," she said.
"Our diverse religious and faith communities have a long and rich history in this country. They have made and continue to make positive contributions to our society."
Ethnic Communities Minister Mark Mitchell said on Thursday that he understood police were assessing Tamaki's remarks against the thresholds set out in the Human Rights Act.
A police spokesperson said they were aware of the video and were making enquiries into its contents.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Tamaki accused Mitchell and RNZ of ignoring the substance of what he had discussed in the video.
Veer Khar, president of New Zealand Indian Central Association, one of the largest Indian community organizations in the country, called Tamaki's remarks on video "inflammatory".
Such inflammatory utterances are clearly not within the boundaries of free speech, and government is expected to do more than just dismissing these repeated uncivil actions," Khar said.
Rashna Tata, who runs one of the largest online community groups for the Indian community in New Zealand with more than 50,000 members, said Tamaki was inciting hate against migrant communities and the Indian diaspora.
"Sadly, he is able to do so because Indians have also been targeted in recent times by certain political parties for their own gains," Tata said.
"A climate of hate and distrust has been created against one particular community. We are all Kiwis."
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