The 19th of December is celebrated as the Goa Liberation Day after the Portuguese left Goa. Back in 1961, the Goans were finally free of the Portuguese rule after years of diabolic torture.
The Portuguese invaded Goa in 1510 and ruled for more than four centuries with an iron fist. By 1540, the Portuguese began their brutal period of inquisition and persecution of the Hindus and Goan Catholics. The ruling Portuguese also desperately attempted to suppress the Konkani language as well.
They went as far as to destroy the Hindu temples in Goa and prohibited Hindu marriage rituals. One of the worst rules enforced in Portuguese ruled Goa was Hindus converted to Christianity would be exempted from land taxes for 15 years.
The in 1932, Antonio Salazar became the dictator in Goa deteriorating the situation further. Under Salazar’s dictatorship, people were denied civil liberties like the right to speech, press and assembly.
In 1946, India was inching towards freedom from the Britishers but the Goans continued to struggle. Dr. Juliao Menezes, a Goan writer and academician invited Ram Manohar Lohia. What was originally a trip to meet a friend turned into a movement for civil liberties for Lohia.
On the 18th of June 1946 was the day of the first cry of freedom from the Goans. Freedom Fighter and Socialist Leader Ram Manohar Lohia started a movement to fight for the Goans Civil Liberties. Lohia disobeyed the ban on public meetings and launched the Civil Disobedience Movement.
The Azad Gomantak Dal was a group of revolutionaries including Prabhakar Trivikam Viadiya and Vishwanath Lawande. This group ensured the battle for freedom in Goa was kept alive.
Eventually, Lohia was expelled from Goa but that did not stop the movement. Lohia inspired the Goans to fight and defy the ban on public meetings. People fought for what they believed to be right. The Goans managed to breathe the same air of freedom as the rest of India on the 19th of December 1961.
