Francis Xavier was a Jesuit missionary who was sent to Indian colonies of Portugal by King Joao III of Portugal on a mission to convert Indians to xtianity.(1)
Francis landed in Goa, on 6th May 1542. Before his arrival, 2 Portuguese governors, Minguel Vaz and Diago Borba, had begun a Portuguese state sponsored pogrom for conversion of the native Hindu populationand carrying out large scale demolitions of Hindu temples.(2)
Francis worked hard at converting native Hindus to Christianity. He manifested a deep distrust for Hindus and described them as "pagans" and ‘idolators’.His contempt towards Hindus and Hindu faith is reflected in his own writings in several places.(3)
From his compilation "The letters and instructions of Francis Xavier"(4)
When I hear of any act of idol worship, I go to the place with a large band of these (converted) children. They run at the idols, upset them, dash them down, break to pieces, spit on them, trample on them, kick them about, and in short heap on them every possible outrage.(5)
When all are baptized I order all the temples of their false gods to be destroyed and all the idols to be broken in pieces. I can give you no idea of the joy I feel in seeing this done, witnessing the destruction of the idols by the very people who but lately adored them.(6)
He was one of the first people to seek the court of inquisition to be established in India. Francis asked for the court of inquisition in Goa. In a letter addressed to king Don Joao III on 16 May 1545, he wrote:(7)
The necessity for the xtians is that your majesty establish the holy Inquisition, because there are many who live without fear of god. And since there are many who are spread all over the fortresses, there is the need of the inquisition and many preachers.(8)
The Court of Inquisition, set up in 1560 in Goa, lasted for 252 years.(9)
The cruelties this tribunal practiced were extreme and beyond measure. To an extent where they had to destroy the records upon its dissolution.(10)
The Goan Inquisition resulted in mass eliminations and exodus of both Hindus as well as of other faiths.(11)
The Inquisition brutally punished those who had converted but were suspected of practising their previous religion in secret. The torture was inhumane.(12)
Many natives who were charged on this count were imprisoned, publicly flogged and executed. The Inquisitors also seized and burnt any books written in Sanskrit apart from razing temples and idols.(13)
The court prosecuted violators of prohibitions against the observance of Hindu festivals, or interfered with Portuguese attempts to convert non xtians using all means at hand.(14)
The Inquisition laws made reconversion to Hinduism a criminal offense.The inquisition was also a method of confiscating temple property.(15)
Amongst others the court set separate laws for xtians and people of other faiths which were discriminatory and hostile.(16)
A few of them were that no non xtian can hold public office, hindu marriages were banned, orphans were to be handed to missions for xtian upbringing.(17)
India and Indians need to reassess the cultural genocide, systematic oppression and torture of the local indigenous population which was carried out by missionaries.(18)
