Nestled along the shimmering coastline of the Arabian Sea, Goa’s vibrant culture and breathtaking landscapes tell a tale of resilience and hope. Yet, beneath its serene beauty lies a rich history marked by colonial struggle and fervent aspirations for independence. As the first European colonial power to arrive in India and the last to leave, the Portuguese left an indelible mark on Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra, and Nagar Haveli.
The story of the first European colonial power (Portuguese) to set foot in India and the last to depart unfolds through the territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra, and Nagar Haveli. Their long struggle for independence and eventual statehood reflects a significant chapter in India's history.
The roots of the freedom movement in Goa were sown as early as 1928 with the creation of the Goa Congress Committee by T.B. Cunha. While the rest of India was protesting against the Simon Commission, Goans were agitating against the Colonial Act of Portugal (1930) which made a clear distinction between Portugal and the overseas territories.
Closer to independence, in June 1946, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia led a disobedience movement and the Goan Political Conference passed the ‘Quit Goa’ resolution, however, Goa was unable to secure separation from the Portuguese. By 1949, both the Goan People’s Party and the Goan National Congress were demanding an end to foreign rule and the establishment of democracy.
Soon after, India established a diplomatic office in Lisbon, to negotiate the withdrawal of Portugal from its colonies in India. Portugal however refused to discuss the matter as Dictator of Portugal Antonio Salazar was of the view that Portuguese territories in India were not ‘colonies’ but provinces under Portugal. Disappointed, India withdrew its diplomatic mission from Lisbon and instituted visa restrictions between Portuguese colonies and India.
On the other hand, a small party of Indian activists entered the Portuguese territory of Dadra on 21 July 1954 and took over the administration. On 2 August, more activists entered and liberated Nagar Haveli without incident. Inspired by these developments, over a thousand satyagrahis attempted to cross into Goa and Daman on 15 August 1954 but were turned back at the border. A year later, on 15 August 1955, three thousand satyagrahis entered Goa, Daman, and Diu in a similar attempt. This time, however, the Portuguese police and military responded with violence, resulting in deaths and injuries.
Condemning the Portuguese violence, PM Nehru immediately broke off diplomatic relations with Portugal. Soon after, India closed its consulate in Goa, curtailed money order facilities, and instituted a travel and economic blockade against Goa, Daman, and Diu.
Around this time, the issue between Portugal and India became internationalized. The Soviet Union and China backed India’s stand, while Great Britain and other countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, of which Portugal was a member) alliance supported Portugal.
Criticized for having too passive and soft a policy on Goa, Nehru along V.K. Krishna Menon, India’s defence minister and the head of India’s UN delegation, decided not forgo its earlier decision of not using force to resolve the matter, and began to consider armed conflict as a solution.
On 1 December, India began a surveillance exercise called Operation Chutney. Two frigates began to patrol the coast of Goa, and the Indian Air Force (IAF) began reconnaissance flights to lure any Portuguese fighter jets to reveal their positions. The Indian Army stationed troops around the borders of Goa, Daman, and Diu. Operation Vijay to liberate Goa was led by the army, with the support of the navy and the air force.
On 17th December 1961, a unit of Indian troops captured the town of Maulinguém in north-east Goa and by the evening of 18 December, the towns of Margao and Dabolim were also captured. The following morning, Indian troops marched into Panjim and captured Fort Aguada.
Anticipating defeat, Salazar ordered his troops to destroy Goa rather than surrender it to the Indians. However, Governor-General Vassalo e Silva chose not to follow the order and offered to surrender instead. With this Operation Vijay was successfully concluded, and the territories of Goa, Daman, and Diu, Dadra, and Nagar Haveli came to be liberated.
On 20th December 1961, Goa, Daman, and Diu were instituted as a single union territory of India. However, soon after, both Mysore and Maharashtra began pursuing the merger of Goa into their states. Many Hindu Goans supported a merger, stating their familiarity with the rest of India, whilst ignoring the 451 years of Portuguese rule and the significant Christian population in Goa.
In 1963, the Maharashtra Gomantak Party (MGP) was formed by Dayanand Bandodkar to advocate for the integration of Goa into the state of Maharashtra, because ‘the language of Goans is Marathi and Konkani is a dialect of Marathi’. In response, the Christian minority founded the United Goans Party (UGP), led by Dr Jack de Sequeira.
In the election tussle between MGP, UGP, and the INC over Goa, MGP won the highest number of seats followed by the UGP. Once Bandodkar came into power, Marathi came be to imposed onto the Goan public, be it through the education system or the appointment of Maharashtrian officials in the Goan public system.
Bandodkar’s heavy-handedness prompted the Catholic and Brahmin Hindu communities that opposed the merger to join forces to form a non-party Council of Direct Action. Satyagrahas, marches, and strikes organised by the Council soon began to disrupt daily life.
The Union government, led by Indira Gandhi of the INC, was initially in the crossfire but eventually, in September 1966, it decided to settle the matter through an opinion poll. The opinion poll, held on 16 January 1967 offered the public only two options: ‘Merger’ or ‘Union Territory'.
Nearly 82 percent of the eligible voters in Goa cast their votes and the majority chose for Goa to remain a ‘Union Territory'. As a result, the union territory of Goa, Daman, and Diu continued to exist in the Union of India as a separate entity.
The matter of Goa's statehood only came up occasionally in the subsequent decades, but the matter became serious when in 1986, Luizinho Faleiro, the sole Goa Congress MLA, moved a bill to make Konkani the official language of Goa. Soon after, the all-India Congress Committee drafted a bill making Konkani the official language while assuring equal protection to Marathi. The bill led to violence between the pro-Marathi and pro-Konkani factions in Goa.
In February 1987, the Goa Assembly adopted the Official Languages Bill, making Konkani in Devanagari script the official language while keeping the use of Marathi. This event propelled Goa along the path of statehood. Soon after, the INC passed the Goa, Daman, and Diu Reorganisation Act on 23 May 1987 to create the state of Goa and the union territory of Daman and Diu.
Since the granting of statehood, Goa has been divided into two districts, namely North Goa and South Goa. These districts have not undergone further divisions.
Recently, on 9 December 2019, to improve administrative efficiencies, Parliament passed the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Act. This merged the two union territories that lay across four unconnected parcels of land and made them one single union territory.
Sources:
Administrative Atlas of India (2011)
Origin Story of India’s States (2020), Venkata Raghavns
We the People of the States of Bharat (2022); Chopra Sanjeev
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