Umrao Salodia, the Chairman of RSRTC and Additional Chief Secretary in Rajasthan State Government, publicly announced his decision to revert to Islam and applied for voluntary retirement from the services alleging victimisation by the Government of Rajasthan.
“Under the Fundamental Right (to profess, practise and propagate any religion) guaranteed by Article 25 (I) of the Constitution of India, I have converted myself from Hinduism to Islam today, the 31st December 2015. After conversion, my name is Umrao Khan,” the IAS officer wrote in his handwritten public declaration.
Mr. Salodia, a 1978 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, wrote to Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, expressing disappointment for allegedly being overlooked for the post of chief secretary. He also applied for VRS from the service. He wanted to retire so that he would not have to function under a junior officer.
In a letter addressing to Ms. Raje, Mr. Salodia wrote: “For the first time after independence of the country, myself, an IAS officer from the SC/ST category would have been appointed today [31st December,2015] as Chief Secretary [of Rajasthan] on the basis of seniority.” In this letter, he also alleged that the current Chief Secretary C.S. Rajan was given a three-month extension, till March next year, to deny him the opportunity of becoming Rajasthan’s Chief Secretary.
In another strong step, Mr. Salodia embraced Islam. While addressing the media he said that he believed in the equality that Islam, unlike Hinduism which discriminates on the basis of caste, offers to all its followers.
Rajasthan Parliamentary Affairs and Health Minister Rajendra Rathore dismissed Mr Salodia’s claims. Mr Rathore said that Mr Salodia had acted in violation of the law as he spoke against the government. “Mr Salodia’s allegations are baseless. Had the government discriminated on the basis of caste, the Rajasthan Assembly Speaker would not be from the SC/ST community. The government will get the matter investigated and will take a disciplinary action against Mr Salodia, based on the results of the investigation,” he added.
Condemning the BJP-led government in Rajasthan, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot said, “Mr Salodia’s appeal for Voluntary Retirement has put the working of the BJP government in Rajasthan under question. Also, it is tragic that the indifference of the BJP government led the senior officer to convert to Islam.”