A 80-strong mob led by Parish Priest ‘Father’ Lewis Alvares attacked Hindu activists, Dr. Kalidas Vaigankar & Chandrashekhar Vast, and their family member in Sancoale, Goa. Prima facie, the attack appears to be pre-planned to avenge a PIL filed by the activists against the Sancoale Church.

A video which has gone viral on social media shows the mob attack taking place in front of police, with even women raining blows & sticks on the hapless Hindus –

Dr. Kalidas Vaigankar is associated with the Niz Goenkar Revolution Front party, and contested from the South Goa  constituency as an independent candidate in the recent Lok Sabha elections. The Niz Goenkar party was launched in 2016 and consists chiefly of ex-AAP members who quit after becoming disillusioned with AAP.

Dr. Vaigankar and his associate from Niz Goenkar Party, Chandrashekar Vast, have mentioned in a police complaint that the church priest led a mob of parishioners to attack them, reports India Expose

Vast told media that this attack was aimed to dissuade and intimidate Niz Goenkar Party members who have filed a PIL against the Parish Priest and the Sancoale Parish to shift the Sancoale Feast Day celebrations to another location due to inconvenience caused to other locals of the Sancaole village.

“Fr Lewis Alvares entered Dr Kalidas’s property with mob and even though police were called and happen to arrive at the scene, they did not stop the mob from their brutal act of beating Dr Kalidas and his family,” expressed Vast.

The Church parishioners have filed a counter-case through an auto-rickshaw driver who alleged that Vaigankar attacked him during an argument after which Alvares and the rest ‘intervened’.

Dr. Vaigankar’s activism against illegal encroachment and cross planting in protected areas by the Church could also be behind the mob attack. The Sancoale Church was also upset over Dr. Vaigankar and his family members running a gaushala (cow shed) behind the Church.

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A look at the town’s history could throw light on the tussle between the Church and native Hindus –

“Sancoale village once housed the Hindu Saraswat Brahmin deities Lakshmi Narasimha, Shantadurga Shankhvaleshwai and Vijayadurga. Around 1560, the deities were shifted to Veling and Kerim (Ponda) during the Portuguese inquisition. The main attraction of this village is St. Joseph Vaz Church. The village now is the home of many Christians and Hindus.”

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