Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando anyone who joins the military service cannot be considered a war hero. 

"One has to wear a medal for bravery in order to become a war hero. A young officer with a relatively short service without any accomplishment cannot identify himself as a war hero," Fernando said addressing a felicitation ceremony at his alma mater Nalanda College. 

Fernando added that Sri Lanka had only 39000 war heroes of whom 34000 represented the Sri Lanka Army. 

"The Navy can boast of 4400 war heroes while the Air Force has only about 868 war heroes," he added. 

"Murderers, I must say, cannot be considered war heroes under any circumstances. They should be prosecuted for their crimes," Fernando said adding that 11 soldiers would be prosecuted within the next two weeks for heinous crimes.   

Fernando also invited the Tamil diaspora organizers to provide any evidence relating to war crimes committed by Sri Lankan soldiers.