After the attacks, he fundraised $20,000 and travelled to Afghanistan to establish 51 micro businesses as a tribute to those who died. He was awarded the Christchurch Civic Award for his efforts.
But these good works came after Bariz Shah crashed to his lowest point, and had to face the consequences for his actions.
At the age of 18, Shah was imprisoned for aggravated robbery, after he and a group of friends robbed a 16-year-old. Shah wasn’t violent, but the victim was hit once by one of the other teenagers. The judge noted Shah’s remorse but considered the crime severe enough to warrant a prison sentence.
“In hindsight I’m actually glad to have gone to prison,” said Shah. His teenage years had been spent lashing out at any and all authority, while suffering racist abuse himself. But on going to prison, Shah said “I stopped seeing myself as a victim.”
“I already knew my life was off the rails, I knew it all along,” said Shah. “I hadn’t developed myself to the point where I could be comfortable with who I was in New Zealand.”
In prison, he worked out and read voraciously. And he used his time in prison to work on himself, “kind of like the hyperbolic time chamber Vegeta uses in Dragon Ball Z,” he jokes.
Now Shah wants the same opportunities to be available to other people who have turned their lives around after being imprisoned.
“Give them hope”, said Shah, on how to help prisoners rehabilitate. “Prior to going to prison, I was actually told by one of the officers… that if in seven years you prove yourself, your record can be cleared.”
But while this gave Shah hope on his release, it isn’t actually true. New Zealand has a “clean-slate” law for people whose crimes didn’t result in a prison sentence, but that doesn’t apply to those who’ve been put away. “I feel like that’s setting people up for failure,” said Shah.
Shah is calling for this law to change, so that those in prison can look ahead to a time when their convictions are wiped, provided they don’t commit any crimes after being released.
He proposes a system where if a person has been incarcerated for certain crimes, they should be able to apply to a panel that would consider applications. “I feel like as a progressive nation we need to look into this,” he said.
The convictions will always be part of who Bariz Shah once was, and how far he has come since. After graduating with his engineering degree, Shah drove down to Spring Hill prison, taking a photo to remind himself of the journey.
“I can sit here and say I am proud of the person I’ve become, the work that I’ve done for other people. Not to get praise by it, but because it makes me better. So yeah, I am proud.”