Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said there was nothing wrong in having events to commemorate those who died during the final phase of war in the Northern Province. 

"They are also our children. Sometimes, our own children were killed by the heroes. Nothing wrong in commemorating them," Senaratne said, addressing the weekly Cabinet briefing. 

He said "Mr. Prabhakaran's" (the leader of the LTTE) conduct was no different from that of "Mr. Wijeweera" (Rohana Wijeweera, the leader of the JVP).

"Even the JVP was listed as a terrorist organization. But, they were allowed to commemorate their heroes. What's the difference between the JVP and the LTTE? The only difference is their ethnicity," the Minister added. 

He said no war in the world had been waged with zero damage to civilians. 

"Can you say everyone who died during the 71' insurrection was a JVPer? Can you say no innocent people were died during the 88-89 period?" he asked. 

"No military officer will say there was no damage to civilians," the Cabinet spokesman stressed.