Sri Lanka: Relatives remember war victims

ucanews.com
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Christian and Hindu Tamil people have held a day of remembrance for those killed during the civil war and to mark the end of three decades of ethnic strife in Sri Lanka.

Relatives of those who died are went missing attended special Masses and prayer services in churches including St Mary’s Cathedral in Jaffna, St Anthony’s Church in Vavuniya and St Theresa’s Church in Kilinochchi. These three towns were hit hard by the country’s 26-year civil war which according to the UN killed between 80,000 and 100,000 people.

The war officially ended on May 19 with the defeat by the Sri Lankan army of the Tamil Tigers who were fighting for a separate homeland in the north and east of the country.

“The end of war brings relief. But it is unbearable that we have lost a generation,” said Selvam Adaikalanathan, a Catholic parliamentarian from Vanni district.

Also to mark the end of the war, Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna ordained five priests at the cathedral on May 18.

The bishop at that Mass remembered priests, nuns and other civilians killed during the war and also the number of families whose members were killed or maimed.

“The most disturbing thing is people see no graves here to observe religious rites,” said an elderly priest at the church of our Lady of Refuge in Jaffna, a former Tamil Tiger stronghold.

Although the end to the fighting is welcome, Tamil people in the area still suffer great trauma, he added.

© UCA News