C Umashankar, an officer of Indian Administrative Services and senior bureaucrat of Tamil Nadu has been removed from the position of poll observer of Sidhi constituency in Madhya Pradesh. The Election Commission of India has warned him against any such activity. “There are publicly available videos of Umashankar preaching, he does not hide it. The Election Commission has taken the decision based on reports. No explanation was sought from the IAS officer,” said a person aware of the development. Umashankar was born to a Hindu family in Tamil Nadu and is a 1990 batch IAS officer.
He converted to Christianity in 2008 and has since attacked Hinduism repeatedly. He propagates faith healing, an unscientific and predatory practice prevalent in Christianity. His healing videos are posted on a page named Day of Lord Jesus on YouTube. In 2015, Tamil Nadu government sent him a notice and restricted him from preaching and propagating a particular religion which could create communal tension. Being a representative of the state, which doesn’t discriminate people on the basis of religion, it was illegal for Umashankar to be involved in religious preaching.
He has made very controversial claims about Hinduism and Hindu gods. He claimed to have prophesied the 2013 Uttarakhand floods. According to him, the floods are the result of Biblical gods pushing the Indian gods to the margin. He claimed that if idols are continued to be worshipped, the country would face more disasters. “The countdown has started for huge disasters in the world. But of all nations India is going to suffer the worst of divine retribution for it is in India that idols are worshipped,” said Umashankar.
He is involved in ‘conversion activities’ and was attacked by a group of people in Kanyakumari for the same. He claims to have cured people of many ailments including cancer. “I heal many people. I have healed people in Mumbai and Pune recently. When I was in Kuwait, I was taken to the houses of two people. One woman had arthritis, the other, a man, had spondilytis,” said Umashnkar. He did not deny using his position as government servant to influence people and bring them in the fold of Christianity. “If they believe me because I’m an IAS officer, its all for the better. I have been specially anointed by Jesus,” he said.
Umashankar is a Christian fundamentalist who is against homosexuals and is also intolerant against all the activities that are prohibited according to the Bible. He participated in meetings which advocated the killing of homosexuals and preached for the same. People like Umashakar use the power and acceptance that comes with the position of IAS to preach their religion.
The European control of India ended when Portuguese, the last colonial power left India in 1963. The Christian missionaries were assisted by representatives of British, French, Spanish, and Portuguese powers in the propagation of the ‘message of Christ’. Vasco da Gama, the man credited ‘wrongly’ credited to find the sea route to India had killed thousands of Hindus. State power was used by Muslim and Christian to convert Hindus for thousands of the years. Now people like C Umashankar do the same even after independence. The oppression of Hindus using state power needs should end because it is not good for communal harmony.