Panaji: The muslim community in the state has condemned the statement made by right-wing speaker Gautam Khattar against St Francis Xavier, the patron Saint of the coastal state.
The Association of All Goa Muslim Jamats in a statement released here has strongly condemned the recent derogatory and offensive remarks by Gautam Khattar against St Francis Xavier, a revered saint who is an integral part of Goa’s spiritual, cultural and historical heritage.
Association President Shaikh Bashir Ahmed has said that such statements deeply hurt the religious sentiments of lakhs for people in Goa and across the world who hold St Francis Xavier in the highest esteem.
Goa has always been an example of communal harmony and mutual respect among all faiths, he said adding that attempts to disturb this harmony through inflammatory speech are unacceptable.
“Freedom of Expression cannot be misused as a licence to insult religious figures and provoke communal disharmony,” he said.
The association has demanded that the concerned authorities should take immediate and strict action against the individual who made these remakes and also against the organisers of the event who provided a platform for such divisive content.
The controversy erupted after a video of Khattar, the founder of Sanatan Mahasangh, addressing an event on Saturday evening in the presence of Swami Brahmeshanand, state Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho and BJP MLAs Sankulp Amonkar and Daji (Krishna) Salkar, went viral.
