President Droupadi Murmu tweeted her greetings to the nation on December 19, marking Goa Liberation Day. The day is observed annually to commemorate the success of ‘Operation Vijay,’.
Why does Goa celebrate Liberation Day on December 19?
What is the history of Goa’s colonisation by European powers?
The Portuguese colonial presence in Goa began in 1510. When Afonso de Albuquerque defeated the ruling Bijapur king and established a permanent settlement in Velha Goa with the help of a local ally, Timayya (or Old Goa).
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The Portuguese fought frequent battles with the Marathas and the Deccan sultanates. During the Napoleonic Wars, the British briefly occupied Goa between 1812 and 1815. The capital was relocated from Velha Goa to Panjim in 1843.
Goa was Portugal’s most prized possession in India and the biggest territory in Estado da India Portuguesa or the Portuguese empire in India. The advent and growth of Christianity in Goa coincided with Portuguese colonial rule.
What was the Goa independence movement?
By the turn of the twentieth century, Goa had begun to experience an upsurge of anti-Portuguese colonial sentiment. Paralleling the anti-British nationalist movement in the rest of India. Leaders such as Tristo de Bragança Cunha, regarded as the father of Goan nationalism. Established the Goa National Congress at the Indian National Congress session in Calcutta in 1928.
How did independence come about?
Portugal refused to negotiate the transfer of sovereignty over their Indian enclaves with independent India after 1947. 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.
