Lanka says sorry for ‘joker’ remark

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 2:12 am

India on Tuesday (December 9) said that it has lodged a protest with Sri Lanka over certain “derogatory” remarks by its Army Chief Sarath Fonseka against some Tamil Nadu politicians and Colombo has expressed “regret” over the remark.

India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Alok Prasad took up the matter “strongly” with Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash told reporters in New Delhi while commenting on remarks by Fonseka in an interview where he referred to some politicians of Tamil Nadu as “political jokers”.

“The Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka promised to look into the matter and conveyed regrets should any such comment have been made,” Prakash said. Fonseka had said that the Indian Government would never influence Sri Lanka to restore the ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and it would not listen to the “political jokers” of Tamil Nadu whose “survival depends on the LTTE”.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has condemned Fonseka’s statement and said that it was just not acceptable. The relationship between politicians and Tamil Nadu had strained further in the recent weeks, after Tamil politicians started pressurising the Indian government to ensure a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, MDMK chief Vaiko, a staunch supporter of LTTE, took strong objection to Fonseka and asked the Centre to demand an unconditional apology from him. The Centre should also seek an explanation from Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse for the remarks, he said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“In a democracy, Army generals do not make such criticism about leaders of a foreign country. This is an unprecedented humiliation for the Indian government and its people by the chief of the Sri Lankan army”, he said. He recalled Fonseka’s interview (published in a paper in Sri Lanka) that the Indian government did not want a ceasefire in the island nation and that the Centre would not listen to “political jokers” in Tamil Nadu.

Vaiko pointed out that the Tamil Nadu assembly had passed a unanimous resolution on November 12, requesting the Centre to take steps to bring about a ceasefire in Sri Lanka. “But even before the ink of the resolution dried, Rajapakse stated in New Delhi that there would not be any ceasefire, creating an impression that India did not request for a ceasefire,” he said.

Earlier, Fonsenka had described the politicians of Tamil Nadu as corrupt and political jokers on Sunday (December 7). The Lankan commander’s controversial statement damning politicians in Tamil Nadu came during an interview to the Sunday Observer, where he claimed that the Indian government would never influence Lanka to restore the ceasefire with LTTE as it would not listen to the political jokers of Tamil Nadu.

Fonseka had specifically targeted Tamil Nationalist Movement leader Nedumaran and MDMK Chief Vaiko saying that if the LTTE was wiped out, political jokers like Nedumaran, Vaiko and those who sympathise with the LTTE would lose their income from the LTTE.

(With inputs from agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Lanka says sorry for ‘joker’ remark

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