Mumbai-based citizens' group Watchdog Foundation has filed a complaint with the National Commission for Minorities and Goa police against a Goa politician who said that the body of Catholic saint Francis Xavier, preserved at a Goa basilica, should be put to a DNA test to determine its authenticity.

Watchdog Foundation said that the public statement by Subhash Velingkar, former Goa RSS chief, was inflammatory and offensive to the Christian community and the devotees of St Francis Xavier, who is known as Goencho Saib, or Lord of Goa, and revered as the patron saint of Goa. The preserved four-centuries-old body of the saint is displayed at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa.

The annual feast of St Francis Xavier is an important festival in Goa and celebrated on December 3 or 4. The festival is marked by fairs and prayers, drawing lakhs of pilgrims. The festival holds deep religious, cultural, and emotional significance to the Christian community, symbolizing St. Francis Xavier’s role in spreading Christianity in Goa, said Watchdog Foundation.

This year will feature the decennial exposition when the casket containing the body is brought down from a raised reliquary. The Archdiocese of Goa has announced that the XVIII exposition will begin on November 21 and end on January 5, 2025. Velingkar's remarks were made about the Rs 400 crores that the government will spend to organise the event. Many also associate the saint with the Inquisition or religious persecution until the early nineteenth century.

The Watchdog Foundation said that Velingkar’s remarks hurt the sentiments of the Christian minority and disturbed peace and harmony.

Meanwhile, news media has reported that a Goa court rejected Velingkar’s anticipatory bail application on Monday. Velingkar’s advocate has argued that the DNA test was only a suggestion and not a question about the saint's identity.