The Sri Lankan military stationed in Kilinochchi held military and religious ceremonies on May 18th “to invoke blessings upon the soldiers,” according to an official military website.
The events took place whilst Tamils across the North-East and around the world mourned those massacred by the Sri Lankan military 9 years ago.
A military ceremony was held at the Sri Lankan security forces headquarters in Kilinochchi, with troops saluting the Sri Lankan flag.
A Buddhist ceremony was also arranged, where troops dressed in all white prayed “to bestow merits on fallen War Heroes and to invoke blessings upon the soldiers and to their families”.
Meanwhile at the Hindu Iranamadhu Amman Kovil, which is frequented by local Tamils, soldiers in full camouflage uniform also decided to hold another ceremony.
Initially the military website said the ceremony at the temple was held to “bestow merits on fallen war heroes and invoke blessings upon the soldiers”.
Since then, the article has been edited to state the ceremony was held to “invoke blessings on military personnel and transfer merits to all War Heroes who sacrificed their lives for the motherland and to others who died during the campaign”.
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