Team Herald
PANJIM: Appealing to the people to maintain peace and harmony, the Church body - Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP) has urged the government to take strict action as per law against Subhash Velingkar for trying to disrupt the communal harmony in Goa by deliberately and mischievously pitting one community against the other.
CSJP executive secretary Fr Savio Fernandes said, “The Catholic community of Goa condemns the insulting and derogatory statements made by Subhash Velingkar against St Francis Xavier, which have deeply hurt the religious sentiments not only of the Catholics, who venerate St Francis Xavier as a saint, but also of so many people belonging to other faith communities and who revere our Saint for having received numerous favours in their lives after praying to him.”
Fr Fernandes has appealed to the government authorities to take necessary strict action as per the prevalent law against Velingkar for trying to disrupt the communal harmony in Goa by deliberately and mischievously putting one community against the other.
“There are burning issues threatening the environment, the demography and the future of this State, which demand the immediate attention of the authorities and which the people of Goa have been unanimously raising before the authorities these days. We appeal to the citizens not to distract their attention from the major issues plaguing our State,” Fr Fernandes said.
The CSJP has also expressed its solidarity with the non-violent protests and appealed to the people to exercise restraint in the interest of the general law and order situation in the State and also in the name of the peace and harmony that had always existed in the State.
Meanwhile, stating that it was unfortunate that a peace-loving State had been dragged into controversy and social unrest, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has appealed to Goans from across religious and cultural backgrounds, to be vigilant and not to allow few individuals to create division and hatred between communities.
“The act of hurting religious sentiments is certainly condemnable and such incidents should be dealt with an iron fist by law enforcement agencies. Let us use democratic, judicial and peaceful means to address the hate speech by a few individuals. We should exercise patience and let the law take its course,” said JIH State president Asif Hussain.
The JIH has appealed to the government to take strictest action as per law in this case so that the faith of the people is reinstated in its governance.
“Every Goan should make every effort possible to restore peace and harmony in the State,” Hussain said.