A Catholic priest has been acquitted of charges of insulting a 17th century Hindu king by the High Court of the small western Indian state of Goa. UCA News reported this on April 15.
On April 12, the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court dismissed the case registered by the police against Father Bolmax Fidelis Pereira of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.
A bench comprising Justices MS Sonak and Valmiki Menezes found the case baseless and dismissed the allegations against him. The court rejected the charge that the priest’s sermon was intended to incite dissent, and instead the judges questioned the motives of those who leveled such an accusation against him.
The High Court concluded the hearing on April 15 but delayed its final decision.
In a Sunday sermon on July 30, 2023, Pereira cited the late Hindu king as an example of someone who accepted all religions.
“Shivaji Maharaj did not discriminate against anyone. He accepted all people. He was a warrior, a hero of the nation. Some people consider him a god. He talk to your friends and ask them if Shivaji is your God or your national hero,” the priest said.
However, some radical Hindu groups edited and circulated a video showing part of his sermon, accusing the Catholic priest of saying that Shivaj was not a god.
“With all humility I accept this decision” – said Pereira.
“I feel vindicated,” the priest added, thanking those who “defended the truth and the freedom that the Constitution grants us.”
The priest denied the charges against him in court. “I didn’t intentionally hurt anyone’s feelings in any way.”
“Let us not allow outside forces to come in and create communal discord among us.” – he added.
City resident Crispino Fariak called the case “politically motivated.”
Some radical Hindu organizations would like the priest to be arrested in a false case, “but the truth will prevail,” he added.
The Goa police, operating under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, registered the case in August last year.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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