BJP lawmaker says IAS officer who resigned is traitor, should go to Pakistan

Former Union minister and BJP’s Uttara Kannada MP Anant Kumar Hegde has termed IAS officer Sashikanth Senthil who resigned as Dakshina Kannada’s deputy commissioner on Friday, a traitor and urged the Karnakata government to sack him even as the officer’s supporters in his village asked him to continue in service.

“The state government should realize that it should have sacked him after he opened his polluted mindset against the Union Government. But cajoling this gaddar to return, amounts to treacherous act against the nation,” Hegde said in a tweet. The former union minister also said that Senthil should go to Pakistan and directly fight against India rather than staying here and breaking the country internally.

Hegde’s tweet came even as residents of Senthil’s native village in Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram launched a protest demanding that the officer withdraw his resignation.

After Kannan Gopinathan, Sashikanth Senthil, a 2009 cadre officer, is the second IAS officer to resign protesting some of the government’s policies.

In his resignation letter Senthil had claimed that, “fundamental building blocks of our diverse democracy are being compromised in an unprecedented manner.”

Dadra and Nagar Haveli’s power secretary Kannan Gopinathan said freedom of expression was foremost and suspension of fundamental rights in a state was one of the reasons behind his decision to quit the service.

Senthil, a native of Mathur village in Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram district had completed his engineering degree in Trichy. Hailing from a Dalit family, Senthil had cleared IAS examination in 2009. Mathur is a small village near Madhuranthagam town, in Kancheepuram district, located 85 kilometres Southwest of Chennai.

Residents of Mathur who say they are disappointed with Senthil’s decision have launched a protest urging the officer to review his decision to resign. E Sambath, a resident of Mathur village, said Sashikanth Senthil is the first IAS officer from the village and they want to see Senthil as a serving IAS officer.

“We know Senthil from his childhood. He always had an awareness about society. He had his primary education in our village. He has done a lot for our village. He is the man behind uplifting our village library with several books. Senthil used to visit our village at least thrice in a year though he was a busy IAS officer. He used to meet students and interact as well as help them. He supported students from Dalits and other communities too. He is an inspiration for our villagers. So, we want him to continue in the service,” Sambath, who is leading a protest in Mathur told HT.

After Senthil sent his resignation on Friday, Karnataka Chief Secretary TM Vijaya Bhaskar asked him to reconsider his decision, but the former Dhakshina Kannada DC has been firm on his decision.

“My decision is ideological, and I cannot retract that. I made it clear and sent my resignation. I will stand by my decision,” said Senthil.