Context: 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.
About Goa Liberation Day:
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.
History of Goa:
The Portuguese colonial presence in Goa began in 1510, when Alfonso 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).
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.
Portuguese colonial rule also saw the advent and growth of Christianity in Goa.
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.
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.
Post-1947, Portugal refused to negotiate with independent India on the transfer of sovereignty of their Indian enclaves.
After Portugal became part of the US-led Western military alliance NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) 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.
As India aggressively championed the Non-Aligned Movement, decolonisation, and anti-imperialism as pillars of its policy, the continuation of colonial rule in Portugal became increasingly unsustainable.
