Sena backs sacked RSS Goa unit chief

Sacked Goa RSS unit chief Subhash Velingkar has received support from the Shiv Sena, which said he has done no crime by demanding that regional languages be promoted in Goa schools. Sena said the BJP government came to power in Goa on the back of its election promise of promoting regional languages, but reneged from it now.

“If he (Velingkar) asked the government to not give grants to English medium schools and promote Konkani and Marathi, what crime has he done? When (Defence minister) Manohar Parrikar was Leader of Opposition, he had demanded the same thing from then Congress government,” it said in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on Friday.

“Parrikar, with help from Velingkar had also initiated a movement to press for their demands which resulted in them getting the reigns of power. But they (the BJP) went back on their words and supported English medium schools. They have broken their promise,” it said.

Sena said the recent events in Goa were a classic example of “attempting to bury the movement” to promote one’s local language and claimed that the state government there was “plagued by corruption, adultery and anarchy.” 

“If on one side sympathy is being shown for Baluchistan, how correct is it to cut the feathers of a bird that is toiling hard to promote local language in one’s homeland. This is an attempt to murder Goa’s culture,” the BJP ally said.