Bishop R. Sam Esudoss, head of the All India Christian Rights Movement who recently made news for opposing and managing to get the Christian missionary scene removed from the Tamil film Mookuthi Amman had given out a clarion call asking Christians in Tamil Nadu to vote for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in the 2016 Assembly Elections.
In a video message dated 13th May 2016, Sam says “Dear Christians, I am telling this for you to think about it. We have to fulfill our religious duty freely in this country. In the coming elections, if all Christians are to unite and bring about a big change in this country then we should definitely vote. Our votes are our weapons. We have to use it. But use it wisely. Don’t stay without voting. I plead that you all definitely vote. The All India Christian Rights Movement, as a religious minority party has decided to support the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). We have promised them certain things. We have also received certain promises from them. The friends in the DMK have promised to protect Christian interests. In view of this, I wish to covey that we have decided to support the DMK.”
He also says that there are certain ‘alien forces’ that are ‘obstructing their work’ and goes on to pray for making India an evangelical Christian state and make all Indians Christians.
In the video, he also says that the Christians in the AIADMK are not true Christians as they did not oppose the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Bill 2002. “When the anti-conversion bill was introduced, the AIADMK had members, MLAs, and MPs who were Christians. But they did not have the spine to oppose the then Chief Minsiter Jayalalithaa. You know why? Because they are just members of the party. They are not true Christians. They won’t take the side of Christians. That is why only a staunch believer in Christianity should go to the Assembly and Parliament.”, Sam Esudoss says.
Bishop Sam Esudoss is a person known to be close to the DMK. He is also close to another rabid Christian evangelist pastor named Ezra Sargunam who shares close ties with the DMK and is known for his hate speech against Hindus.
Sam Esudoss had complained to remove the scene depicting the ‘jeba koottam’ (prayer meeting) shenanigans of Christian missionaries in which Mano Bala playing a pastor indulges in ‘healing’ through CDs.
The film crew had deleted that scene from the movie the night before its release. Insiders aware of the issue note that Christian organizations had taken objections to the said scene and had approached an ‘actor cum dynast politician’ to remove the scene from the movie. The ‘actor cum dynast politician’ is later said to have contacted the directors of the film RJ Balaji and NJ Saravanan, actress Nayanthara and producer of the film Ishari K. Ganesh and threatened them to remove the scene from the movie.