UPSC Articles
Operation Vijay
Part of: Prelims and GS I – History and Culture
Context Every year on 19 December, Goa Liberation Day is celebrated as Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule on that day in 1961.
- Goa was a Portuguese colony for 451 years.
About Operation Vijay
- Goa was taken over by the Portuguese from the Maratha rule in 1641 and the conflict ended in a peace treaty between the Portuguese and Maratha Empire (Bicholim conflict).
- Goans also participated in Satyagraha in the late 1940s.
- After India got independence, the Portuguese refused to give up their hold over Goa.
- The Indian government under Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961 adopted Operation Vijay to free the Portuguese colonies (Gos, Daman and Diu) in India.
- The Portuguese surrendered and the coastal state acquired its liberation on December 19, 1961.
- Then Goa was annexed into the Indian Union and became the Union Territory of India along with Daman and Diu.
- Goa continued to be a Union Territory till 1987 and then was given statehood by becoming the 25th state of India.
