JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A day after a bitter confrontation with fellow Tamil lawmaker Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam at a local government coordination meeting, Member of Parliament Archchuna Ramanathan on Friday removed a protest cutout bearing his image that had been adorned with a garland of slippers.
The incident followed a tense exchange on Thursday at a coordinating committee meeting in Tellippalai, where Mr. Ramanathan and Mr. Ponnambalam, leader of the Tamil National People’s Front, engaged in a heated verbal confrontation that disrupted proceedings.
Video footage widely shared on social media appeared to show Mr. Ramanathan directing abusive remarks at Mr. Ponnambalam, saying “தூக்கி அடிப்பேன் நாயே” — roughly translated as, “I will beat you, dog” — drawing criticism from political opponents and members of the public.
By Friday morning, a roughly 10-foot-tall cutout bearing Mr. Ramanathan’s image had been erected along a main road on the outskirts of Jaffna. The cutout replaced his surname, Ramanathan, with Rajapaksa — an apparent reference to remarks praising former President Mahinda Rajapaksa that Mr. Ramanathan had made at a recent gathering in a predominantly Sinhala area. It also carried the Tamil phrase “ஈனப்பிறவி” — a deeply derogatory term meaning “degenerate being” — and was adorned with a garland of slippers. While no group immediately claimed responsibility, the display was widely believed to have been erected by supporters of the Tamil National People's Front, whose members have been sharply critical of the lawmaker.
Witnesses said Mr. Ramanathan arrived at the site alone in his vehicle around midday, stopped beside the cutout, removed both the slipper garland and the display, placed them in the trunk of his car, and drove away.
