Panaji: Bajrang Dal activists protested outside the residence of Konkani writer Uday Bhembre over his statement about Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his links with Goa.

A group of activists staged a peaceful protest outside the 87-year-old writer’s residence in Margao city of South Goa on Friday evening, condemning his video titled “Jagor”, uploaded on social media, in which he criticised Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.

Addressing a state-level function on Shiv Jayanti earlier this week, Sawant had claimed that during the Portuguese rule, a majority of Goans were saved from being converted to Christianity as Shivaji Maharaj ruled over most parts of the state, which had Portuguese rule in three talukas.

Bhembre, in his video, refuted Sawant’s claim and accused him of distorting historical facts.

Protestors condemned Bhembre’s statement in his video and burnt his effigy at Cuncolim village in South Goa, and they later proceeded to his residence in Margao city.

The Bajrang Dal’s Goa convenor, Viraj Desai, claimed there was no evidence to support the statements made by the writer in his video and alleged that Bhembre was distorting history to please a particular community and insult the Maratha king.

Bhembre, who was in his house, spoke to the protestors and tried to support his statements in the video, but the agitators demanded that he apologise for his remarks.

The writer, however, has refused to apologise and said he stood by his statements.