Maori perform ‘Haka’, pay tribute to Christchurch hero Naeem Rashid and son

CHRISTCHURCH: The Maori performed the 'Haka' war dance on Friday as a tribute to Pakistani national Naeem Rashid and his son Talha Naeem who were among those killed in the New Zealand mosque attacks a week ago. 

Rashid heroically sacrificed his life while trying to stop a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15.

Dressed in shalwar kameez, the Maori – the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand —lined up after the burial and performed the 'Haka'. The dance whose origins lie with the indigenous Maori community has become a global symbol of New Zealand as the battle cry of its national rugby team, the All Blacks.

Rashid, a resident of Jinnahabad in Abbottabad and a professor in New Zealand, was present at the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch when a white supremacist terrorist opened fire at the worshippers. Rashid was injured in his bid to overpower the attacker but passed away a day later after succumbing to his injuries.

His son, 22-year-old Talha, a civil engineering graduate, was among those who lost their lives in the shooting.

Eight Pakistanis martyred in the New Zealand mosque attacks were buried on Friday. 

A day earlier, the Pakistani High Commissioner to New Zealand said the body of only one of the nine Pakistani martyrs would be repatriated back to his motherland.

Speaking to Geo News, Dr Abdul Malik, the high commissioner, said the funeral prayers for late 27-year-old Areeb Ahmed, a chartered account by profession who hailed from Karachi were offered on Thursday morning.

His body will be handed over to his family in Pakistan later next week.