Nirmalaji And Why I Was Suspended!

'My protest was in the interest of the nation.'
'I am just doing my duty as a citizen of this country.'

Days before his retirement, B Balamurugan, who worked as the deputy commissioner of Goods and Service Tax in Chennai, wrote a letter to the President of India seeking Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's dismissal for 'converting the Enforcement Directorate into a BJP policy enforcement directorate'.

Balamurugan was served a suspension notice by the department of revenue which functions under the finance ministry, just two days before his retirement.

"I genuinely feel I should have been suspended long ago, but they did not do it then," Balamurugan tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.

You have been given a suspension notice. Did you expect this reaction from the ministry after your protest?

Though the protest is the immediate reason for my suspension, it was planned by the government long back. That's because they had been planning to punish me like this, suspend me just before my retirement. And they did it.

Even if I had not written that letter to the President, I would have been suspended at this point.

Why do you think so?

I genuinely feel I should have been suspended long ago, but they did not do it then.

In 2009, I had submitted my resignation first. Then, I resigned in 2014 again. At least in 2014, they should have accepted my resignation.

Or, they should have dismissed me from service. Why I am saying so is, there are certain rules and regulations that are to be followed by a government servant.

When I, as a government servant, violated the rules, why didn't they take action against me then?

In 2014, I had taken a padayatra from Chennai to Kanyakumari demanding an investigation of the genocide in Sri Lanka by a UN monitoring agency.

Do you know how the government reacted to my protest? They suppressed the news.

Next, I protested when Narendra Modi took over as the prime minister of India.

The protest was against inviting (then Sri Lankan president Mahinda) Rajapaksa to the swearing-in ceremony, and also because Modi had not taken the moral responsibility for the killings of more than 2,000 Muslims during his rule as chief minister of Gujarat.

But they didn't take any action against me then. I was only detained.

You wanted them to take action against you?

It is not that I wanted them to take action against me. If they had followed the rules, they would have taken action against me as I had violated the service rules. Had I been in their position, I would have taken action.

Was it to bring the attention of people to certain issues that you protested?

Yes, I want people to be aware of those issues. My protest was in the interest of the nation.

I didn't protest for any personal gain; it was not for my promotion or pay, but for a common cause which I consider as the national interest.

I am just doing my duty as a citizen of this country.

Why do you think the government did not suspend you or dismiss you then? Now, just two days before your retirement, you are suspended...

They know very well that at this point of my life, this will affect me financially more.

IMAGE: B Balamurugan. Photograph: Kind courtesy B Balamurugan

You mean, you will not get your pension, PF, etc?

Exactly. When a person on the verge of retirement is denied the benefits, he would be concentrating on getting those benefits back, and not fighting for the issues he had protested against.

If I start fighting for the benefits now, it will take 20 years or even more of my life. So, I am not going to do that.

But the government has not mentioned in the suspension order why they are suspending you...

When there are so many reasons, they might have felt why mention one! They are capable of fabricating reasons also!!

You said, when you protested earlier, the news was suppressed. But your letter to the President seeking the finance minister's dismissal and your suspension has become news everywhere.

Yes, it has become news now because everybody is aware of what the ED is doing, and who they are targeting.

Everybody knows that only the Opposition leaders are the targets of the ED.

It is like, the ruling party wants to monopolise corruption. This way, the Opposition parties will end up with no money and they will fizzle out.

They think, their rule will continue for another 20, 30 years.

Are you planning to join politics now?

Right now, I know only the end, but I am not sure about the means.

The end is, I know I have certain duties to my state and the nation.

Yes, politics is the only option, but I am yet to decide how to move ahead.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com