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.