PANAJI
Even as tensions rose across the State with protests demanding the arrest of former Goa RSS chief Subhash Velingkar for his derogatory remarks against St Francis Xavier there were calls for peace made by the social arm of the Goa Catholic Church and several other green activists.
In a statement issued on Saturday evening, the Council for Social Justice and Peace said that the Goan Catholic Community condemns Velingkar's "insulting and derogatory" statements even as it urged the protestors to exercise restraint for the sake of peace and communal harmony.
It said, 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.
"We appeal to the concerned government authorities to take necessary strict action as per the prevalent law against Subhash Velingkar for trying to disrupt the communal harmony in Goa by deliberately and mischievously putting one community against the other," the CSJP statement issued by its Executive Secretary, Fr Savio Fernandes, said.
"There are burning issues threatening the environment, the demography and future of Goa 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 in the statement.
Meanwhile, another group of green activists including Dr Oscar Rebello, Dr Sabina Martins and others held a press conference where they appealed to Velingkar to withdraw his statement and apologise to the people of Goa.
The greens also urged protestors from across Goa to diffuse the situation and prevent further escalation of the tension.
