The Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP) along with Goa Needs Minority Commission and Citizens’ Initiatives for Communal Harmony have noted the frivolous and misleading remarks made at a press conference chaired by Minister Mauvin Godinho yesterday regarding the recent public meeting jointly organized by CSJP and other civil society organizations. Such statements not only present a distorted image of the purpose of the gathering but also attempt to divert attention from the genuine concerns of the people.
We reiterate our legitimate demand for the immediate establishment of a State Commission for Minorities in Goa, as mandated to safeguard the rights guaranteed to minorities specially under Articles 14, 15, 16, 19, 25, 26, 29, and 30 of the Constitution of India. In the face of increasing discrimination, violence, and other atrocities against minority communities across the country, the minorities of the State of Goa urgently need this statutory body to ensure their constitutional protections are upheld.
It needs to be noted that the Minister has not released any data to indicate the distribution of welfare schemes for minorities or the criteria that can proactively enable minorities to avail of the schemes. The Minister has also ignored that the role of a State Commission for Minorities goes far beyond the distribution of welfare schemes. Its core responsibilities would be to address grievances, prevent rights violations, and promote equality, justice, and security for all minority communities.
What Goa needs is a State Commission for Minorities — not an Anti-Conversion Law. The Commission will foster protection, understanding, and unity, whereas the proposed Anti- Conversion Law will only deepen mistrust, breed division, and threaten the secular and harmonious fabric of Goa.
Evidence from other states proves this point. Wherever this draconian law has been enacted, it has become a weapon to harass and falsely accuse members of minority communities. In Chhattisgarh, for instance, two nuns from Kerala were unlawfully arrested and charged with conversion and trafficking — despite clear statements from the tribal women and their families that no such acts occurred. While bail was eventually granted, mere release is not justice; the baseless case must be quashed entirely. Also, the registering of the case as ground preparations for the enactment of a draconian anti-conversion law, either in Chattisgarh or Goa, modeled on the Uttar Pradesh law, cannot be overlooked.
The difference between a Commission which is a body to monitor and prevent violations, and pro-actively assist minorities, and Government Departments, appears to have been lost on the Minister, who has insulted the intelligence of thousands of people gathered at the Public Meeting at Azad Maidan on 9th August, 2025, by dismissively stating that it was a rally organized by political opponents.
The Public Meeting’s call to stop persecuting Minorities in India has also been conveniently ignored.
We will continue to stand firmly with all those who work for the protection of constitutional rights, the preservation of Goa’s secular ethos, and the rejection of laws that promote division rather than harmony.
sd/-
Fr. Savio Fernandes
(Council for Social Justice and Peace)
Mr. Mathew Almeida
(Goa Needs Minority Commission)
Mr. Ramesh Gauns
(Citizens’ Initiatives for Communal Harmony)