VHP demands Telangana Health Director's resignation for "hurting Hindu sentiments" with 'Jesus' remark

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], December 22 (ANI): Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Thursday demanded the resignation of Director of Health and Family Welfare Gadala Srinivasa Rao for his remarks on Jesus Christ and COVID, stating that his statement has "hurt the sentiments of a majority of Hindus".
Rao had purportedly said it was due to the "blessings and kindness of Lord Jesus Christ" that the country could defeat COVID-19.
Speaking to ANI, Chief Spokesperson of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Telangana, Balaswamy said that Rao has "insulted" all gods and goddesses of the Hindu religion and asked Chief Minister KCR to sack him.
"Vishwa Hindu Parishad demands the resignation of Director of Health, Srinivasa Rao Gadala. His statement has hurt the sentiments of the majority of Hindus. He has insulted all the gods and goddesses of the Hindu religion. We demand the Telangana Government, Chief Minister KCR and Health Minister Harish Rao that he should be removed from his designation," he said.
Alleging that Srinivasa Rao has "forgotten" his position, the VHP leader said that the Director is "preaching like a pastor" while also adding that there should be action against him for his "anti-Hindu statement".
"If he had to give such statements, he should have resigned and become a pastor. But being in his position, he should not have done this. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad condemn this. If he wants to become a pastor we don't mind it, but we condemn him on doing such actions being the director of health," he said.
Earlier today, Rao released a statement clarifying his comments during the Christmas celebrations of the charitable trust in Kothagudem town, which had created an uproar in the media.
He said, "I appeal to the media to please not distort my comments. I am deeply disturbed that some media houses have cut a part of my speech and created a controversy. The video clip is being cut and played to show that I said COVID19 was defeated due to Jesus' blessings. It is unfortunate that this kind of misinformation is being spread."
"I strongly condemn this. It is unfortunate that some have distorted and falsely propagated my comments which initially said that we defeated COVID19 due to the unique initiative of K Chandrashekar Rao, better performance of the government, full cooperation of all the employees of the health department and because people of all religions prayed to their respective deities. I will not insult any religion or anyone's beliefs," he added while appealing to the people to watch his full video.
At a Christmas function, organised by Dr G S R Charitable Trust which he had founded in September 2021, at Kothagudem in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, Rao purportedly said it was due to Lord Jesus Christ that India has progressed so much. "We could defeat COVID19 not because of our work, but due to the blessings and kindness of Lord Jesus Christ,'' he said. (ANI)