November 26, 2015
Malaysia war graves too far for whanau
Maori Party president Naida Glavish wants the Government to take another look at repatriating the remains of Maori soldiers buries in Malaysia.
Veterans Affairs Minister Craig Foss this year reiterated the policy of successive governments that the bodies of military personnel who died overseas between 1948 and mid-1970 will not be brought back for reburial.
Ms Glavish says that’s a blow to Maori whanau who still feel there is a keen and intense spiritual connection between the tupapaku of their dead and those who are left behind.
She says Maori take comfort, inspiration and strength from having their dead close.
While she doesn’t expect non-Maori to share this wairua, she hopes they would appreciate its significance to Maori.
Ms Glavish says while those who fell in the two World Wars lie with their comrades in sections of Commonwealth War Graves sites that have become little pieces of Aotearoa, the fallen of Malaysia are a special case and deserve special consideration.
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