Team Herald
PANJIM/MARGAO: What started as a rumble has now become an avalanche. As people’s protests against former RSS Goa chief Subhash Velingkar’s unwarranted comments about St Francis Xavier snowballed across the State, cabinet ministers and MLAs of the ruling party have now started feeling the heat.
This became evident when Chief Minister Pramod Sawant finally broke his silence on Saturday, wherein he said, “Subhash Velingkar will not go scot free without any action.”
The chief minister also requested the protesters to refrain from blocking roads and not to take law into their own hands.
One MLA after another has started disowning Velingkar, questioning his sanity and the intent behind his malicious comments. After protests at Margao and Fatorda on Saturday, Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira called for Velingkar’s arrest.
“I know for sure that police have registered a case and are on the lookout for him. They have also been posted at his house. On behalf of the government, I can say that he will be arrested for sure. As of now, we don’t know where he is hiding,” Sequeira said. He denied that the government had any hand in this matter, adding that something had “triggered” Velingkar to make such a “stupid statement”.
“I was told by someone that this was a deliberate attempt to divert attention from other issues. What was the issue when he made such a statement last year? Goa is a secular state. Let us maintain the peace,” Sequeira said.
According to Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, St Francis Xavier is a saint revered by all communities and it was Velingkar’s DNA that needed to be tested. Velingkar had caused an uproar earlier this week by demanding a DNA test on the relics of St Francis Xavier, regarded as the patron saint of Goa, who is also known as Goencho Saib.
Siolim MLA Delilah Lobo pointed out that St Francis Xavier was revered by people cutting across religious lines. “For the novenas, it’s not just Catholics, but also devotees from other religions who come to venerate him and pray. People such as Velingkar are fanatics. He makes these stupid statements to grab the limelight. He wants to create a rift among people of different religions.”