Jaffna District MP Archchuna Ramanathan told Parliament on Tuesday that Jaffna should be handed over to Tamil Nadu along with Kachchatheevu Island, claiming the people of Tamil Nadu would offer better protection to Sri Lankan Tamils.

Addressing the chamber, the legislator congratulated Indian actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay on his recent electoral success and noted that when Vijay had requested the return of Kachchatheevu, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had refused. “Along with Kachchatheevu, Jaffna too should be given to Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu people will protect us,” Archchuna said.

The remarks were made while he was raising concerns over electricity shortages in northern islands. He said that during a recent visit to Delft Island electricity was supplied only five days a week, and asked when the government would guarantee uninterrupted power to the region.

Kachchatheevu, the small island in the Palk Strait ceded by Sri Lanka to India in 1974, has been a recurring flashpoint in domestic Tamil Nadu politics, and Sri Lankan governments have consistently rejected calls for its retrocession. Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam swept the recent state elections, in which his party secured 108 seats on its first outing.

Archchuna, who is currently on bail in connection with a firearm-related case, is no stranger to controversy, but a parliamentary call to hand the Northern Province to a foreign sub-national government adds a new layer to his political record.

On Wednesday, after a wave of criticism, Archchuna issued a clarification saying his comments had been misinterpreted because of a misunderstanding of his Tamil. He insisted his statement was made ironically in the context of “the alleged seven agreements signed between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” and that he was not in fact calling for Sri Lanka to be divided.

“I will not sell my country. We are people who fought for this country. Sri Lanka is my country,” he said, adding that his remarks were intended as criticism of the agreements with India. He said that if the government continued to “give everything to Modi”, those who supported such deals should “go to Modi”, while others “could go to Tamil Nadu.”