Goa Church urges restraint after Hindu nationalist asks for DNA testing on St Francis Xavier’s relics
Subhash Velingkar, a former local leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is behind the request. This comes a month before the start of the ten-year exhibition of the saint's remains. Protests have followed. Fr Savio Fernandes, executive secretary of the Council for Social Justice and Peace, has called for social harmony. Several local politicians took legal action on the grounds that Velingkar’s remarks are offensive to religious sentiments.
Goa (AsiaNews) – Church authorities in the western Indian state of Goa appealed for peace and restraint after Subhash Velingkar, a former local leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), asked that the relics of Saint Francis Xavier, Goa’s patron, undergo DNA testing.
Velingkar’s request, which was made last Wednesday, 2 October, a month before a ten-year exhibit of the saint's remains is set to open, has sparked demonstrations and protests.
In a statement on Saturday evening, Fr Savio Fernandes, executive secretary of the Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP), said that Goa’s Catholic community condemns Velingkar's “insulting and derogatory" remarks, but, at the same time, it urged the faithful to exercise restraint for the sake of communal peace and harmony.
"Velingkar's statements deeply hurt the religious sentiments not only of Catholics but also of so many people belonging to other faith communities who also revere the saint for having received numerous favours in their lives after praying to him," the statement reads.
For Fr Fernandes, the real priorities are elsewhere. “We appeal to the citizens not to distract their attention from the major issues plaguing our state," he said.
The CSJP also called on the competent authorities to take the necessary steps against the former RSS leader, based on existing laws, stressing that Velingkar had "deliberately and mischievously" tried to push "one community against the other".
Expelled from the RSS, a Hindu extremist organisation close to India’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Velingkar two years ago said that Saint Francis Xavier could not be considered "Goencho Saib", the protector of the city of Goa, and started a campaign to replace him with Parshuram, a warrior from Hindu mythology.
Francis Xavier, a Spanish Jesuit missionary, landed in Goa in 1542, when the region was a Portuguese colony. His relics are kept in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa, and their exhibition is scheduled from 21 November 2024 to 5 January 2025.
On Friday, more than 300 people, including some local political leaders, gathered in front of the Margao police station. The next day, protesters blocked roads in Margao, Anjuna, and Old Goa.
For his part, Velingkar on Thursday accused "certain activist groups” of spreading “false narratives” and filed a complaint with the police.
“I have recently made a statement regarding the Goa Inquisition,” he said, “an unfortunate chapter in the history of Goa, which took place during the period of Portuguese rule. While history speaks of Saint Francis Xavier’s contributions to the spread of Christianity, it is important to understand that the Goa Inquisition created a reign of terror for many non-Christians.”
“The push for a DNA test to verify the identity of the remains believed to be those of St Francis Xavier has gained momentum among the Buddhists in Sri Lanka and globally,” he added.
Churchill Alemao, Goa’s former Chief Minister and a member of the All India Trinamool Congress, also filed a complaint with the police against Velingkar.
“The time has come to do a DNA test on Velingkar. People of all faiths – Hindus, Muslims and Christians – have been living peacefully in Goa, but people like him are out to destroy the age-old communal harmony. The sentiments of all the people who venerate St Francis Xavier are hurt when such remarks are made. I have filed a complaint at Colva police station,” Alemao said.
“Whatever action was taken [in the case] against Fr Bolmax [Pereira], similar action will be applied for Velingkar,” said BJP Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who added that measures would be taken against Velingkar.
A complaint was filed last year against Fr Bolmax Pereira, parish priest at St Francis Xavier Church in Chicalim, south Goa, for allegedly offending Hindu religious sentiments by making disparaging statements during a sermon about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a maharajah who fought against the Mughal empires.
The current chief minister urged people not take the law into their hands. “Nobody should try to create communal tensions. Everybody will be given equal justice,” he explained.
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