What stood in the way of the JVP in the 70-80s being as terrorizing as the LTTE in 90's and 00's was the lack of funds. For the little resources they had, JVP's "revolution" caused significant death and terror in . By definition, the JVP, too, was a terrorist organization.

Most Sinhala Sri Lankans are related to or know of a militant JVPer killed by the state in the 80-90s. They have an easier time empathizing with the idea of commemorating them. But many of them struggle to apply the same empathy to the families of LTTE cadres killed in the war.

I don't believe terrorists of any race should be commemorated. I understand that unjust circumtances led them to resort to terrorism; nevertheless, they were wrong. But what strikes me most is the human capacity to be empathetic to one group and totally apathetic to another.

You can condemn a group for their wrong doing and still be empathetic towards their families' right to grieve. I will always be against the idea of celebrating LTTE caders who died in battle. But I understand their families' pain. They were our fellow citizens who died in vain.

We must memorialize all civilians who died in the war. They deserve mourning and remembrance. At least in their death, they deserve the respect we failed to give them while they were alive. Their dignity is our duty. Inability to provide that is a failure of the state.