Peace leads to love as ex-Tigers tie the knot

Fifty-three former Tamil Tiger soldiers in rehabilitation camps in Sri Lanka’s north were married in Catholic and Hindu ceremonies at the weekend.

Father Anthony Sebamalai of Mannar diocese conducted a wedding ceremony for 12 Catholic couples at Vavuniya’s Pompeimadhu Rehabilitation Center on June 13. The 41 Hindu couples underwent Hindu religious rites.

“The new era of peace is also ringing in a time of romance and love,” said Rehabilitation Commissioner Brigadier Sudantha Ranasinghe.

Numerous requests from the couples to be married resulted in the recent wedding ceremonies, he said.

Father Sebamalai said he was happy to marry the 12 Catholic couples and help “give them a new life in accordance with the Catholic faith.”

Priests and nuns had conducted marriage preparation classes for these couples prior to the weddings, said Vicar General Father Anthony Victor Sosai.

The government will provide the newly-weds with financial and other assistance to help them get started in life, said Ranasinghe. They will be given temporary homes while still undergoing rehabilitation, he added.

“Once they complete the rehabilitation process, they will be allowed to integrate into the community.”

About 400 people attended the recent wedding ceremonies in which each couple could invite up to 10 relatives.

Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa, son of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi, who was in Sri Lanka to rebuild a school destroyed by the civil war, acted as witnesses.

Some 12,000 former Tamil Tiger soldiers are now facing charges or undergoing rehabilitation after the 26-year civil war ended in May last year.

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