Sri Lankan military celebrates Vesak in North-East

Despite apparent restrictions put into place for coronavirus prevention, the Sri Lankan military held a series of public events across the Tamil homeland last week, as it marked the Buddhist festival of Vesak.

The events come as militarisation of the North-East stepped up under Sri Lanka’s current president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In some areas, public events were held with the military handing out rations to Tamil civilians. In other areas Sinhala Buddhist monks oversaw religious ceremonies for troops.

See photographs from military celebrations across the North-East below.

Jaffna

Mullaitivu

Eastern province

Kilinochchi