Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah may have dug himself into a ditch full of controversy on Wednesday when he said Siachen — an area whose control is disputed by India and China — actually belongs to China. The remark seems akin to a faux pas by another Congress leader — Digvijaya Singh — who had addressed Lashkar-e-Taiba founder and 26/11 founder Hafiz Saeed with the honorific "saheb."
On Wednesday, the otherwise astute Siddaramaiah, who is also active on social media, was trying to communicate to those who follow him on Twitter and Facebook that he had had a fruitful discussion with a delegation from China on infrastructure and development.
However, he chose to write on Twitter that the gentleman who headed the delegation -- whom he identified as one Lee Zong -- was the "chief minister" of Siachen. Although the tweet was removed later, here is a screenshot of it when it was still up on Siddaramaiah's timeline.
What is wrong?
A majority of the Siachen glacier area is controlled by India, despite efforts by neighbouring countries to usurp it. That Siddaramaiah has said the region belongs to China could be construed as India admitting that it has no control or authority over the region. It could also be seen as an affront to Indian soldiers who guard the territory in frigid conditions.
Now, even if one were to assume that the mistake was due to translation or typographical in nature, and the delegation Siddramaiah welcomed on Wednesday was actually from the Sichuan province of China, it still does not explain the "chief minister" part. For starters, the official website of the Sichuan province lists neither a chief minister nor any top government official named Lee Zong.
The mistake was repeated -- albeit with a further mistake -- on the Facebook page of the chief minister, as can be seen here:
Here, the "Siachen" from Twitter has become "Saichen." However, it still is a mystery as to who the chief minister met on Wednesday.
Possible fallout
Going against the national line, attributing a territory of India to a foreign country could invite serious political and legal repercussions for Siddaramaiah. In fact, some people even said they believed he could be removed from his post because of this transgression.
