Fact Check: Did MP Archchuna Use Offensive Language in Parliament? Examining the ‘Pukkai’ vs ‘Puka’ Controversy

A cultural and linguistic misunderstanding recently caused controversy in Sri Lanka’s Parliament when Tamil MP Archchuna’s pronunciation of a traditional food term sparked heated debates across social media platforms.

The incident occurred during a parliamentary session on January 20th, when MP Archchuna used the Tamil word “pukkai” to describe a traditional pongal rice dish served during a presidential visit to the Northern Province. While speaking in Tamil, he correctly pronounced it as “pukkai,” but when switching to Sinhala, he pronounced it as “puka” – a word that carries vulgar connotations in colloquial Sinhala, referring to the rectum or buttocks.

“The word ‘puka’ may have a different meaning in your language, but in Tamil, it is said as ‘puka’,” the MP stated in Parliament. “There are no other words for it in Tamil. ‘Milk rice’ is a different dish. Therefore, the President gave ‘puka’ to our people, and our people also gave ‘puka’ to the President.”

The speech quickly went viral on social media platforms, with many Sinhala speakers questioning whether the MP had deliberately used offensive language. Fact Crescendo, a fact-checking organization, subsequently launched an investigation to clarify the linguistic context behind the controversial statement.

According to Thewagowry, a lecturer in linguistics at The Open University of Sri Lanka consulted by Fact Crescendo, the term has legitimate historical roots in Tamil language. She explained that in Sangam literature, specifically in the ancient text Purananuru, the term originally appeared as “purkai,” denoting a simple food such as porridge or gruel. Over centuries, linguistic evolution transformed “purkai” into the modern term “pukkai.”

The investigation further revealed important regional distinctions in Tamil terminology. While “pongal” is the standard term used broadly across Tamil-speaking regions, people in Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern provinces predominantly use “pukkai” to refer to the same dish. This regional variation reflects the distinctive nature of Jaffna Tamil, which has preserved many archaic features and vocabulary from Old Tamil due to geographic isolation and local social structures.

“In the Northern and Eastern regions of Sri Lanka, pongal is commonly referred to as ‘pukkai,’ and people in those regions do not usually use the term ‘pongal,'” Thewagowry explained to investigators. “Instead, residents there refer to it exclusively as ‘pukkai.'”

The controversy highlights the complex linguistic landscape of Sri Lanka, where language differences can sometimes lead to unintended misunderstandings. Jaffna Tamil, spoken primarily in the Northern Province, is noted for its conservative nature and maintains ancient linguistic features that have largely disappeared in other Tamil-speaking regions.

While the MP later clarified that he had only intended to use the proper Tamil term “pukkai,” the incident demonstrates how easily cross-cultural communication can be complicated by regional dialects and linguistic nuances. For Tamil speakers from the Northern Province, there was nothing unusual about the reference to “pukkai,” but the pronunciation created an unfortunate homonym when translated into Sinhala discourse.

The episode serves as a reminder of Sri Lanka’s rich linguistic diversity and the importance of cultural context when interpreting parliamentary debates. As different communities within the country continue to interact in shared political spaces, awareness of such regional linguistic variations becomes increasingly important to avoid misunderstandings.

Fact Crescendo’s investigation concluded that the MP’s use of the term was linguistically justified from a Tamil perspective, though the pronunciation created an unfortunate cross-language misunderstanding rather than an intentional use of offensive language.