St Xavier remarks row: Cong MLA files fresh complaint against right-wing speaker, cites old video

A Goa Congress MLA on Monday lodged a fresh complaint against right-wing Speaker Gautam Khattar, arrested over his alleged derogatory statements about St Francis Xavier, citing an old video of him making remarks against the patron saint of the coastal state.

A Goa Congress MLA on Monday lodged a fresh complaint against right-wing Speaker Gautam Khattar, arrested over his alleged derogatory statements about St Francis Xavier, citing an old video of him making remarks against the patron saint of the coastal state. In a police complaint filed at Panaji police station, MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira highlighted a video posted by Khattar on Facebook in October 2025, in which he allegedly made statements against St Xavier. A senior police official said that they have received the complaint and are examining its contents. Ferreira has alleged that the April 18 incident was not the first time Khattar made remarks against St Francis Xavier, and he had verbally attacked the saint in a video uploaded on his Facebook account on October 29, 2025. Khattar, the founder of an outfit called Sanatan Mahasangh, was arrested in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh on April 24 in connection with a case registered against him on charges related to promoting enmity and hurting religious sentiments. A row erupted after a video of Khattar making ''objectionable'' statements against St Xavier, whose Holy Relics are preserved at the Basilica of Bom Jesus Church, Old Goa, went viral. He had made the remarks while addressing an event on April 18 in the presence of religious guru Swami Brahmeshanand, Goa Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho and BJP MLAs Sankulp Amonkar and Daji (Krishna) Salkar.