Hindu activist and his brother targeted, booked for comments on Christian missionary figure who forcibly converted large numbers of Hindus in Goa

Case ID : 30a8092 | Location : South Goa, Goa, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 17 April, 2026

Case ID : 30a8092

South Goa, Goa, India

17 April, 2026

Hindu activist and his brother targeted, booked for comments on Christian missionary figure who forcibly converted large numbers of Hindus in Goa

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Case Summary

In Goa, a YouTuber and Hindu activist, Gautam Khattar, along with his brother, Madhav Khattar, were targeted by Christian organisations and politicians for making remarks about the 16th-century Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier, who demanded the Goa Inquisition. This inquisition led to thousands of Hindus being forcibly converted, tortured, and killed by missionaries during Portuguese rule. Khattar made his remarks during a Hindu cultural event in South Goa's Vasco on 18th April 2026. Following this, Christian organisations in Goa filed complaints against him, and the police registered cases against him. The controversy erupted over Khattar calling "Saint" Francis Xavier a "terrorist". During his speech at the Sanatan Dharm Raksha Samiti's Bhagwan Parshuram Jayanti celebrations, Gautam Khattar described Francis Xavier as a "terrorist, barbaric, cruel ruler" who spent his life converting Hindus to Christianity. Following this, Khattar was 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 existed any more. His bones had been crushed to dust by insects. Yet, a festival is held for him every year. Lakhs of Sanatanis (Hindus) go there, fold their hands…before the same person who spent his life converting Sanatanis to Christianity…" 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 2026. The police initiated action after various Christian organisations 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. A First Information Report was registered against Gautam Khattar at Vasco Police Station after transferring all complaints there, under relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections for hurting religious sentiments. Amidst mounting outrage, the case was transferred from Vasco Police to the Goa Crime Branch on 22 April 2026. Pramod Sawant, the Goa Chief Minister, publicly stated that police teams had been deployed and Gautam Khattar would be arrested within two days. 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 indicated 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 was named as a co-accused in the First Information Report for his 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 was withheld in India after a legal request. Notably, revered in Goa as "Geoncho Saib" or "Father of Goa", Francis Xavier, sent by Portugal's King John III, arrived in India on 6 May 1542 and propagated Christianity through persuasion and coercion across India, Sri Lanka, Japan, and China, harvesting thousands of Hindu souls while denouncing Hindus as "heathens" with "devilish" black idols. In a 16 May 1545 letter to the king from Amboina, he demanded the Holy Inquisition in Goa to curb secret Hindu or Muslim practices among New Christians, leading to its establishment for mass forced conversions of Hindus to Christianity, banning apostasy, Konkani, Marathi, Sanskrit, Arabic books, and Hindu temple destruction. Overseen by Xavier, the Inquisition oversaw over 350 temple demolitions, seizure of Hindu orphans by Jesuits, and public tortures of Hindu residents like Auto-da-Fé (whipping, burning at the stake), turning life into hell for Hindus deemed "uncultured savages" by missionaries.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case is added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory selected is- Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. This case represents a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime as the Hindu activist Gautam Khattar and his brother were targeted by Christian organisations and politicians solely for stating historical facts about St Francis Xavier and the Goa Inquisition, during which large numbers of Hindus were killed, forcibly converted to Christianity, and subjected to brutal physical and mental torture for refusing to convert. This targeting of Hindu activists constitutes an attack on Hindus for opposing Christian radicals and exposing the truth of historical Hindu persecution, making it a clear case of a religiously motivated hate crime. To understand the nature of this crime, we must first examine who St Francis Xavier was and what he did. He was a Christian missionary sent to India by King John III of Portugal, a Catholic who co-founded the Jesuit order. During his time, he travelled across various parts of India, particularly Goa, where he aggressively propagated Christianity. He denounced Hindus as heathens, described their deities and religion as ugly, black, horrible, and devilish, and harboured deep hatred towards them. Xavier demanded the Goa Inquisition, during which several thousand Hindus were killed, forcibly converted, and tortured by Christian missionaries. This forms the brutal history of Goan Hindus, who faced massacre at the hands of Portuguese Christian missionaries solely for their faith identity. The Goa Inquisition exemplified the brutal religious bigotry and hatred that Christian missionaries held for Hindus; forced conversion, murder, and torture all constituted acts of religiously motivated hate crimes and persecution against the Hindu community. Gautam Khattar merely reiterated this history, calling out Francis Xavier for his derogatory remarks and violent actions against Hindu deities, Hinduism, and the Hindu community, as well as for demanding the Inquisition that led to thousands of Hindus being converted and killed. He urged Hindus not to attend events honouring St Francis Xavier, deeming it an insult to the sufferings of their Hindu ancestors. Just for narrating these historical facts and making the Hindu society aware of their painful history, Gautam Khattar's brother was arrested, and both were booked following complaints from various Christian groups and politicians and protests from several Christian organisations. This demonstrates the Christian perpetrators' intent to silence Gautam Khattar and suppress Hindu voices by swiftly deploying legal mechanisms, such as FIRs under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections for hurting religious sentiments, arrests, Look Out Circulars, and content blocks, to criminalise historical discourse, thereby preventing wider awareness of Hindu persecution under St Francis Xavier and subsequent Christian missionaries from gaining traction and shielding the narrative around these events from scrutiny. Such targeting of Hindus for sharing their historical ordeal and opposing Christian radicals exemplifies deep-seated religious animosity and a religiously motivated hate crime. Given that this case meets the parameters of a hate crime, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: Since multiple Christian organisations staged demonstrations and Congress politician Peter D'Souza lodged the complaint, yet the total number of organisations or their members remains unspecified, with only Peter D'Souza identified, the perpetrator count has been recorded as one. Similarly, although Gautam Khattar made the remarks, his brother Madhav was arrested for preparing the speech, resulting in a victim count of two, with the case centred around both brothers.