The Bollywood film Kashmir Files has inspired former Rashtriya sanghchalak Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Hindu organizer Raksha Maha Aghadi Subhash Velingkar to start a new project called Goa Files, which he says is a campaign to “recover the patron saint of Goa” and highlight the atrocities by the Portuguese during the Inquisition.

Velingkar sparked a debate with his decision, saying Goa’s patron saint – or as Konkani says “Goencho Saib” – should be the mythical sage Parshuram and not the 16th-century Spanish priest St. Francis Xavier.

The true protector of Goa

Speaking to News18, Velingkar said the aim behind Goa Files was to enlighten people that sage Parshuram and not St Francis Xavier was the man protecting Goa. “He is the real Goencho Saib,” he said.

According to Velingkar, Xavier had been sent to Goa for the sole purpose of proselytizing (religious conversion) and was responsible for spreading brutality (Inquisition) in the new colonies taken over by European forces like the Spanish and Portuguese. Francis Xavier, alias Velingkar, is responsible for the Goa Inquisition, which saw atrocities and repression of the people under Portuguese rule.

“We want to highlight this in front of the people of Goa,” he said.

Velingkar’s Goa Files campaign has not been well received by Catholic-oriented BJP leaders, Catholic clergy and opposition parties like Congress, AAP and TMC who claim he is not This is just another tactic of the Pramod Sawant government to divert people’s attention from the real issues.

Incidentally, Velingkar’s decision comes at a time when the Chief Minister of Goa has offered to rebuild the temples destroyed during the Portuguese colonial era.

The Parshuram Connection

The RSS leader claims that the sixth incarnation of Vishnu, Parshuram, was the true protector of Goa. Legend has it that the sage shot an arrow into the sea, forcing the sea god Varuna to recede from the waters to the tip of the arrow, thus leading to the creation of Goa.

This version is also found in the history pages of Goan school textbooks. Many official Goa government websites also mention the Parshuram connection – how the sage brought Saraswat Brahmins from modern Bengal to Goa around 1000 BC to settle along the Arabian Sea coast.

The famous historian and pedagogue of Goa, Prof. Prajal Sakhardande has said that legend has it that Lord Parshuram created the land of Goa by shooting an arrow from the top of the Sahyadris, commanding the sea to recede.

“The sea, which was at the foot of the Sahyadri mountains, heeded Parshuram’s order and retreated, thus creating the land of Gomantak (Goa) to settle its 96 Saraswat families.”

He added that the myth can be explained geologically as the retreat of the sea was a natural process due to tectonic movements and the theory of continental drift. “History says that 96 (Shannav i.e. Shenvi) Saraswat families exist in Goa.”

The Portuguese Inquisition

During the Inquisition, Hindus and Muslims were targeted and forced to convert to Christianity. Hindus, who were forcibly converted, were called new Christians and if discovered in secret following their previous religion, they were condemned to death. Most of the records regarding the Goa Inquisition were burned and destroyed by the Portuguese government when the Inquisition was abolished in 1812.

The Marathas and a Miracle

St Francis Xavier, whose remains are kept in a coffin at the famous Bom Jesus Cathedral in Old Goa, has for centuries been traditionally referred to as the patron saint. Francis Xavier was one of the first Catholic missionaries to arrive in Goa, then a Portuguese colony, and helped establish Christianity in countries like India, Japan and the Malay Archipelago.

Historically, it is believed that on the night of November 24, 1683, Maratha King Sambhaji entered Goa via modern Ponda with an army of 20,000 soldiers. After capturing St Estevam’s fort, he marched to the Portuguese capital of Old Goa. In fear, then the Portuguese Viceroy, Count of Alvor, Dom Francisco de Tavora, is said to have asked for divine help from Saint Francis Xavier. He opened the coffin of the saint, placed his scepter in his hands and prayed to save Goa from the hands of the Marathas.

The Mughals simultaneously invaded the kingdom of Sambhaji, forcing the Marathas to retreat and thus Goa was saved. This was considered a miracle of St Francis Xavier, giving him the title “Goencho Saib”.

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