New Delhi, Dec. 9: India has lodged a protest with Sri Lanka over an alleged remark by its army chief calling some Tamil Nadu leaders “political jokers”.

Colombo has expressed “regrets”.

Alok Prasad, India’s high commissioner in Colombo, took up the matter “strongly” with Sri Lanka’s defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, foreign ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said. “The defence secretary of Sri Lanka promised to look into the matter and conveyed regrets should any such comment have been made.”

Army chief Sarath Fonseka, in an interview to the state-run paper Sunday Observer, had called P. Nedumaran and Vaiko “political jokers”. He said India would never influence Sri Lanka to restore ceasefire with the rebel Tamil Tigers.

“If the LTTE is wiped out, those political jokers like (Tamil Nationalist Movement leader) P. Nedumaran, Vaiko and whoever is sympathising with the LTTE will most probably lose their income from the LTTE,” Fonseka was quoted by the Sunday Observer as saying.

The comment, which was published on Sunday, incensed MDMK chief Vaiko. He asked the Centre today to demand an “unconditional apology” from him. The leader, who has strong views on ethnic Tamils in Lanka, shot off a letter to the Prime Minister and said the Centre should seek an explanation from Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse.

“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,” the letter said.

The paper’s editor, Dinesh Weerawansa, was sacked a day after the paper carried Fonseka’s interview. Government officials refused to confirm if the dismissal was linked to the outcry in India.

Fonseka’s remarks came days after the Centre agreed to send foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee to Sri Lanka to press for a ceasefire between the forces and the LTTE.