Railway official to apologise to Goa MLA for 'Portuguese' slur

Panaji, Jan 30 (IANS) A senior South Western Railway official who had caused outrage last week when he called Goa BJP MLA Alina Saldanha as a "Portuguese", has been summoned by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.Sawant told reporters on Thursday that the official, South Western Railway manager Ajay Kumar Singh, had been summoned and he would apologise to Saldanha."Whether he has said this to an MLA or any Goan, such an insult will not be tolerated. I have taken this matter seriously and I have also spoken to the Railway Minister. He (Singh) will apologise to Alina," Sawant said.On January 20, Singh who was in Goa to oversee railway track doubling works of the South Western Railway, during a meeting with Saldanha, had referred to her as a "Portuguese" national.Goa, a former Portuguese colony, was liberated after 451 years of colonial rule in 1961.
--IANS maya/kr