Goa deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza on Monday apologised for his comments last week, when he said that India was already a Hindu nation and he was a Christian-Hindu.
“My opinion could be wrong for others. I accept it. I don’t say it is the most correct opinion. You might say I am wrong. If anyone’s sentiment is hurt, I apologise”, D’Souza said on Monday
“Hindu is my culture, Christianity is my religion. When I say Hindu, it means culture and not religion. Hindu culture is 5,000 years old and my religion is 2,000 years old”, D’Souza said. On Friday last, in an apparent attempt to defend his Ministerial colleague who said that Modi will make India a Hindu nation, D’Souza said that India was already a Hindu nation and he was a Christian-Hindu.
“India is a Hindu country. It is Hindustan. All Indians in Hindustan are Hindus, including me, I am a Christian Hindu”, he had said. His comments had triggered an uproar in the national media and the political and social spheres. The Opposition had also asked the Goa Roman Catholic Church to excommunicate him for committing heresy.
‘Souza is one of the senior-most minority members of the ruling BJP in Goa and has been the party’s poster-boy as far as the Christian community is concerned.