The Ministry of External Affairs had to play some very intense back-channel diplomacy with Sri Lanka since early morning on Friday and managed to stave off a full-blown diplomatic crisis in time over a derogatory article on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa titled How meaningful are Jayalalithaa’s love letters to Narendra Modi .
If the MEA’s efforts had not borne quick results, Tamil Nadu parties’ next likely step would have been to exert pressure on New Delhi to sever diplomatic ties with Sri Lanka.
J Jayalalithaa and Narendra Modi. Reuters
The article was uploaded on the official website of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence and Urban Development and showed Jayalalithaa writing a letter while dreaming of Modi with a picture of Modi in heart-shape bubbles floating in her mind. The article per se, written by Shenali D Waduge, did not have any derogatory content except for the title and the visual which was highly offensive.
At the end of the article, a one-line note in the bold said: "The Ministry of Defence bears no responsibility for the ideas and opinion expressed by the numerous contributors to the ‘Öpinion Page’ of this web site."
The article was noticed early morning and all MPs of AIADMK and allies were alerted about it and they raised the matter in Rajya Sabha before noon and in the Lok Sabha after lunch.
Jayalalithaa had already written a letter to the Prime Minister demanding that the MEA should demand an unconditional apology from Sri Lanka. Jayalalithaa’s letter to the PM is reproduced below:
It has been brought to my notice that the official website of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, Government of Sri Lanka, has prominently hosted just under its homepage banner a link to an article entitled “How meaningful are Jayalalitha’s love letters to Narendra Modi?” The visual rendering on the homepage of the official website just above the link is highly objectionable as it depicted both the Prime Minister of India and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in a very trivialized, derogatory and disrespectful manner.
The article itself contained certain unwarranted and unfounded comments about the very valid and serious issues that I have consistently been raising relating to the repeated instances of harassment by the Sri Lankan Navy of Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu fishing in their traditional waters. This is a livelihood issue for lakhs of fishermen families in my State whose cause I have been espousing and will continue to espouse strongly. I have also clearly explained the legal basis on which the Government of Tamil Nadu refuses to recognize the unlawful ceding of Katchatheevu under the Indo-Sri Lanka agreements of 1974 and 1976 and the issue pertaining to the alignment of the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
The article analysis also ascribes motives to me without any basis at all, including the insinuation that I demanded the release of boats which are crucial to the survival of fishermen families, because ‘some of these may belong to her or her supporters’. This is a vile, distasteful and baseless allegation. The article also tries to mischievously create fissures within India’s federal polity where none exist through statements like: ‘Obviously she is attempting to dent the popularity of the Indian Prime Minister’.
While as a public political figure in a vibrant democracy with full freedom of press, I have faced criticism and comment from many sources, this blatant attempt to ridicule, and trivialize the untiring efforts made by a democratically elected leader to resolve an important livelihood issue of the fishermen of Tamil Nadu by hosting a highly objectionable article prominently on the official website of an important Ministry of a neighbouring country, is completely unacceptable. The added visual image on the website is clearly aimed at denigrating the elected leaders of India, the world’s largest democracy, and particularly a 66 year old woman political leader of many years standing. These are affronts to India which cannot be ignored or lightly brushed aside.
More importantly, although there was a disclaimer on the website stating that the Ministry of Defence bears no responsibility for the ideas and opinion expressed by the numerous contributors to the ‘Opinion Page’ of the website, the visual itself depicting the Prime Minister of India and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is not part of the article written by a journalist but a visual deliberately and mischievously put up on the official website itself. This reprehensible visual itself clearly indicates that these are not necessarily the views of the author but of the Sri Lankan Government itself.
I understand that, following the public outcry in Tamil Nadu, the article and the visual have both been surreptitiously removed from the official website. However, the damage has already been done.
I therefore request you to immediately direct the Ministry of External Affairs to summon the Sri Lankan High Commissioner and clearly express India’s displeasure at the manner in which the article was hosted on the official website of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, Government of Sri Lanka, and seek an unconditional apology from the Government of Sri Lanka.
But the apology was still not forthcoming from Colombo. In the evening, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin was asked a question about the episode and he said the Indian government had acted with "alacrity" and the objectionable article had been taken off after India took up the matter with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in India.
Around the same time, the Indian pressure on Colombo worked and the Sri Lankan defence ministry published an unqualified apology to both Modi and Jayalalithaa with a sober picture of Modi. The Sri Lankan apology is as follows: “An article titled 'How meaningful are Jayalalitha's love letters to Narendra Modi?' had appeared on our website along with a graphical portrayal of Hon. Prime Minister of India and Hon. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The article which had been published without appropriate authorization and not reflecting any official position of the Government of Sri Lanka or Ministry of Defence and Urban Development has since been removed. We extend an unqualified apology to the Hon. Prime Minister of India and Hon. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.”
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