New Delhi: After facing fierce opposition, the Sri Lankan government has been forced to withdraw the controversial pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa from its defence website. The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry has tendered an unqualified apology to both PM Modi and Jaya over the defamatory pictures on its website lampooning the two leaders.
Earlier, Jayalalithaa had written to PM Modi demanding an apology from the Sri Lankan High Commissioner. The article on the website titled - how meaningful are Jayalalithaa's love letters to Narendra Modi Pictures had pictures of Jaya dreaming about Modi.
Setting aside their differences, political parties in Tamil Nadu had strongly backed Jayalalithaa over the issue. Hours after the article was published,it led to political furore accompanied by protests by AIADMK and Tamil outfits in various parts of the state besides NDA allies demanding India severe ties with Colombo even as the piece was later removed from the website.
The state BJP unit said publishing of such a derogatory article in an official website was not acceptable. Party's state general secretary Vanathy Srinivasan said that India should summon the Sri Lankan envoy and "convey our feelings."
The DMK also slammed the Sri Lankan government over the episode and demanded an apology. Party spokesperson TKS Elangovan described the article, which mocked Jayalalithaa's writing of letters to Modi on issues involving Sri Lanka, as "cheap". No matter what the differences were, a Chief Minister cannot be depicted in such manner, he said.
PMK founder S Ramadoss said that the article was bad in taste and not only demeaned Jayalalithaa, but also Modi. He said it was not proper to degrade Jayalalithaa, who was not only an elected leader, but also a woman.
MDMK leader Vaiko described the incident as 'unforgivable' and said it showed the 'atrocious' nature of the Lankan army. Jayalalithaa's letters to Modi were not mere communication, but her 'struggle' to ensure the welfare of the Sri Lankan Tamils, he said.
"Those letters are representative of the feelings of 7.5 crore Tamil people," he said and faulted the BJP delegation's visit to the island nation. "India should immediately take action against Sri Lanka and sever ties with that country. Else there will be a suspicion if the Narendra Modi government had joined hands with Sri Lanka" in its anti-Tamil measures, he said.
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