GOA LIBERATION DAY - POLITY
News: Why
does Goa celebrate Liberation Day on December 19?
What's in the news?
● President
Droupadi Murmu tweeted her greetings to the nation on December 19, marking Goa Liberation Day, which is celebrated
annually to mark the success of ‘Operation
Vijay’ undertaken by the Indian armed forces to defeat Portuguese colonial
forces and liberate Goa in 1961.
Colonization of Goa:
● The
Portuguese colonial presence in Goa began in 1510, when Afonso de
Albuquerque defeated the ruling Bijapur king with the help of a local ally,
Timayya, and subsequently established a permanent settlement in Velha Goa (or
Old Goa).
● Goa
was made capital by Nicholas De Cunha by
1529.
● Over
the following centuries, the Portuguese fought frequent battles with the
Marathas and the Deccan sultanates. During the Napoleonic Wars, Goa was briefly
occupied by the British between 1812 and 1815. In 1843, the capital was moved
to Panjim from Velha Goa.
● Goa
was Portugal’s most prized possession in India and the biggest territory in
Estado da India Portuguesa or the Portuguese empire in India.
● Portuguese
colonial rule also saw the advent and growth
of Christianity in Goa.
● Over
time, the Portuguese lost most of the territories in the Estado but retained
Goa until well after India itself had thrown off the yoke of the British Raj.
What was the movement for Goa’s independence?
● By
the turn of the twentieth century, Goa had started to witness an upsurge of
nationalist sentiment opposed to Portugal’s colonial rule, in sync with the
anti-British nationalist movement in the rest of India.
● Leaders such Tristão de
Bragança Cunha, celebrated as the father of Goan nationalism, founded the Goa
National Congress at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress in
1928.
● In
1946, the socialist leader Ram Manohar
Lohia led a historic rally in Goa that gave a call for civil liberties and
freedom, and eventual integration with India, which became a watershed moment
in Goa’s freedom struggle.
● On
the other hand, the Azad Gomantak Dal,
co-founded by Prabhakar Sinari, was willing to try more aggressive methods. But
a variety of factors prevented Goan independence from happening immediately.
The
trauma of Partition and the massive rupture that followed, coupled with the war
with Pakistan, kept the Government of India from opening another front in which
the international community could get involved. Besides, it was Gandhi’s
opinion that a lot of groundwork was still needed in Goa to raise the
consciousness of the people, and the diverse political voices emerging within
should be brought under a common umbrella first.
How was independence achieved?
● Post-1947,
Portugal refused to negotiate with independent India on the transfer of
sovereignty of their Indian enclaves.
● Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was keen that Goa should be integrated by diplomatic
means.
● After
Portugal became part of the US-led Western military alliance NATO (North
Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 1949, Goa too became part of the anti-Soviet
alliance by extension.
● Fearing
a collective Western response to a possible attack on Goa, the Indian
government continued to lay stress on diplomacy.
What was ‘Operation Vijay’?
● The
Indian government finally declared that Goa should join India “either with full peace or with full use of
force”.
● December
18 and 19, 1961 saw a full-fledged military operation termed ‘Operation Vijay’,
which was carried out with little resistance and an instrument of surrender was
signed, leading to Goa’s annexation by India.