A massive row has erupted in Goa after a YouTuber and Arya Samaj follower, Gautam Khattar, allegedly made ‘offensive remarks’ about 16th-century Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier, during a Hindu cultural event in South Goa’s Vasco on 18th April. The controversy erupted over now-absconding Khattar allegedly calling ‘Saint’ Francis Xavier a “terrorist”.
What Gautam Khattar allegedly said about Francis Xavier
During his speech at the Sanatan Dharm Raksha Samiti’s Bhagwan Parshuram Jayanti celebrations, Gautam Khattar allegedly described Francis Xavier as a “terrorist, barbaric, cruel ruler” who spent his life converting Hindus to Christianity. He is also accused of making ‘derogatory’ remarks about Francis Xavier’s remains in a casket revered as ‘sacred’ relics.
As per a viral clip, Khattar said, “…on this earth, there was a terrorist, barbaric, cruel ruler named Francis Xavier. There is a place where he died. His body has been consumed by insects. Neither his body nor soul exists anymore. His bones have been crushed to dust by insects. Yet, there is a festival held for him every year. Lakhs of Sanatanis (Hindus) go there hand fold their hands…before the same person who spent his life converting Sanatanis to Christianity…”
I strongly condemn the outrageous and disrespectful remark made by Gautam Khattar referring to GOEMCHO SAIB as a “terrorist.” Such statements are an insult to the sentiments of millions of devotees in Goa and across the world who revere St. Francis Xavier as a symbol of faith,… pic.twitter.com/GtxdTEun4f
— Vijai Sardesai (@VijaiSardesai) April 19, 2026
Protests by Goan Christian outfits and the police action
In no time, a video of the incident went viral online, sparking protests, condemnation and demands for Gautam Khattar’s arrest.
As per media reports, Gautam Khattar’s speech was prepared by his brother Madhav Khattar, who was arrested by the Goa Police on 22nd April.
The police initiated action after various Christian outfits in Goa, as well as political parties, rose in protest and multiple complaints were filed against Gautam Khattar for hurting religious sentiments.
The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman called Khattar’s remarks “hateful and malicious”. Meanwhile, Congress leader Peter D’Souza lodged a complaint at Vasco Police Station. Overall, more than a dozen complaints were filed within two days across Vasco, Old Goa, Panaji, Margao, Anjuna, and other police stations in Goa.
An FIR was registered against Gautam Khattar at Vasco Police Station after transferring all complaints there, under relevant BNS sections for hurting religious sentiments.
Amidst mounting outrage, the case was transferred from Vasco Police to the Goa Crime Branch on 22nd April.
Recently, Pramod Sawant, the Goa Chief Minister, publicly stated that police teams have been deployed and Gautam Khattar will be arrested within two days.
Crime Branch issues a Lookout circular against Gautam Khattar, and arrests his brother Madhav from Haridwar
After taking formal charge of the case, the Goa Crime Branch issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against Gautam Khattar through the Bureau of Immigration to bar him from leaving India. The police visited his residence in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun, though he was not found there. Reports say that Khattar ignored the summons issued by the police.
While Gautam could not be traced, the police arrested his brother, Madhav, from Haridwar after an overnight surveillance by a Crime Branch team camping there. Madhav Khattar has been named as a co-accused in the FIR for his alleged role in scripting, recording, and disseminating Gautam’s speech, as well as bearing the logistics cost of his brother’s appearance at the Parshuram Jayanti event.
Meanwhile, Gautam Khattar’s Instagram account with over 2 million followers has been withheld in India after a legal request.
Who is Gautam Khattar
Born on 4th February 2000 in Delhi, Gautam Khattar describes himself as a “spiritual beat” journalist, YouTuber, author and orator. “My self Gautam Khattar I am spiritual Beat Journalist, or you can identify me as Half Journalist & Half YouTuber. My YouTube content is related to Baba Sadhus, Sanatan dharam, foreigner Devotes and religious places,” Khattar writes in the description of his YouTube channel boasting 8,97,000+ subscribers.
Raised in Uttarakhand, Khattar gained public attention with his interviews of Sadhus, and other videos during the 2021 Haridwar Mahakumbh.
Gautam Khattar’s popularity, however, is majorly owed to his content on Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagwat Gita, Arya Samaj principles, as well as critical commentary on Western influence on Sanatani youth.
Besides social media activism, Khattar is also the founder of Sanatan Mahasangh, an organisation devoted to promoting Vedic literature, Hindu Dharma and cultural awareness.
Khattar is an ardent follower of Arya Samaj and Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati. His Dharmic and youth-centric content and aggressive approach earned him popularity and relevance.
Amidst intensifying protests and politics, the Goa Crime Branch teams are searching for an absconding Gautam Khattar.
Who was ‘Saint’ Francis Xavier
Revered in Goa as “Geoncho Saib” or “Father of Goa”, Francis Xavier, remains a divisive figure in Indian history. Sent by King John III of Portugal, the Catholic missionary arrived in India on 6th May 1542, when Goa became a Portuguese colony. Francis Xavier actively propagated Christianity across India, Sri Lanka, the Malay Peninsula, Japan, and China. Throughout his life, Xavier harvested thousands of Hindu and other ‘heathen’ souls for Christianity through both persuasion and mainly coercion.
The ‘Patron Saint of Goa’ described Hindus as “heathens”, “impure souls”. The hatred Francis Xavier harboured for Hindus, their deities and beliefs is evident from his description of Hindu idols as “as black as black can be…ugly and horrible.” Xavier believed that Hinduism was ‘devilish’ and openly demonstrated his disdain through killings and torture of the native Hindu populace.
In 1545, the Spanish missionary wrote a letter to the Portuguese king, demanding the “Holy Inquisition” in Goa to ‘discipline’ New Christians secretly practicing Hinduism or their other original non-Christian faith.
In a letter addressed from Amboina (Moluccas) to D. Joao III, the king of Portugal, on May, 16, 1545, he wrote, “The necessity for the Christians (in the Portuguese Indian capital of Goa) is that your majesty establish the Holy Inquisition, because there are many who live according to the Jewish law, and according to the Mahomedan sect, without any fear of God or shame of the world. And since there are many who are spread all over the fortresses, there is a need for the Holy Inquisition and of many preachers. Your majesty should provide such necessary things for your loyal and faithful subjects in India.”
The whole idea behind introducing ‘Inquisition’ not only in Portugal but also in India, was to facilitate mass forced religious conversion of Hindus in India and Jews in Portugal to orthodox Christianity and ensure that the new converts do not publicly or secretly revert to their original faith. Xavier was strongly against the idea of neo-converts believing in or practicing rituals of their old faith, which were heretical (seditious) to the Christian worldview.
In India, Christianity has step its foot way before the arrival of Francis Xavier. In fact, Christianity had made its dominant place in Goa, the capital of ‘Portuguese India’. During his visit across Goa months after arrival, Francis Xavier was impressed by institutions of the Christian supremacy including a convent of Franciscans, a ‘magnificent’ cathedral with a large number of canons, and several other churches which were being built across Goa. “There is good reason for thanking God for the Christian religion flourishes so much in this distant land in the midst of heathen,” he exclaimed.
The inquisition banned apostasy and banned the sale of books in the Konkani, Marathi, Sanskrit, and Arabic languages. The use of Konkani was also forbidden in the colony of Goa.
Upon the imposition of the inquisition in Goa, life became comparable to hell for the local Hindu population, who were often on the receiving end of persecution and were targeted in particular by the sadistic Christian missionaries.
The Christian missionaries, including the infamous Francis Xavier called the Hindus ‘uncultured’ and ‘savages’, who worshipped black idols ‘resembling demons’; they took it upon themselves to force Hindus into leaving their religion and succumbing to Christianity. An inquisition office was thereby set up essentially to discriminate against Hindus on all matters possible.
Xavier is documented to have overseen the destruction of more than 350 temples, seizure of Hindu orphans for the Jesuits, torture and public punishments like Auto-da-Fé, which involved whipping, torture, and burning at the stake.
St. Francis Xavier was a part of the Society of Jesus or Jesuits, which enslaved people on a large scale. The Jesuits enslaved local tribes in America, having over 20,000 slaves at one time. They were employed in farms and other works. Keeping slaves and torturing them was justified many times and was not considered against Christianity.
Xavier died in 1552 on Shangchuan Island off China. His supposed ‘remains’ are kept at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa and venerated annually by the converted descendants of the Hindus, Muslims and other non-Christian natives tortured and forced into Christianity by Portuguese invaders.
Over the years, attempts have been made by the left liberal cabal to whitewash the holocaust of Hindus and Jews by Portuguese Christian missionaries. There has been a systematic attempt by Hindu-hating propagandists and leftist ‘historians’ at whitewashing the violent Goan Inquisition by Portuguese invaders and forced alteration of Goa’s religious demography through dissemination of a sanitised version of the history.
