Panaji/ New Delhi. Goa Liberation Day is being celebrated today. Goa was liberated from around 450 years of Portuguese rule on 19th December 1961. Various functions have been organized across the state to mark the occasion. Programmes to mark Liberation Day have been organized across Goa’s 12 talukas and major towns including Mapusa, Ponda and Vasco. Goa governor Mridula Sinha and chief minister Manohar Parrikar have wished citizens on liberation day.
Back in History
Goa on India’s western coast was freed from Portuguese rule on 19 December 1961, more than four centuries after it was colonized. The fight for freedom began in the 1940s as India inched closer to independence from British rule. But Goa remained a Portuguese colony until 1961, straining relations between India and Portugal as the former’s support for the anti-colonial movement in Goa grew. In 1955, India even imposed an economic blockade on Goa. In 1961, the Indian army invaded the state after the Portuguese fired at Indian fishing boats, killing one fisherman. After 36 hours of air, sea and land strikes by the army, General Manuel Antonio Vassalo e Silva, governor-general of Goa, signed the “instrument of surrender”, handing over Goa territory to India.
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