The 60th Liberation day of Goa was celebrated with big fanfare in the distinguished presence of the president of India but this celebration became possible only due to the efforts of the Indian Government who took initiative under the leadership of India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the combination of freedom fighters in Goa.
But According to the Goa CM, Dr. Pramod Sawant It was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who was responsible for the delay of 14 years to in Goa’s Liberation, how much justified his statement on Nehru Ji, let us take a look at the facts and figures of the Liberation of Goa in this article.
On 14 January 2020, CM Pramod Sawant stated that India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is to be blamed for the 14 years delay for Goa’s liberation at the ‘Know Your Army Mela’ held on the 72nd Army Day by 2 Signal Training Centre at Campal Ground. Shripad Naik, the Union Minister of State for Defence was also present for the event.
“Truth be told, India got Independence in 1947, the people of the entire country got the fruits of Independence. But unfortunately for Goans, we had to wait 14 years to taste freedom. The Prime Minister at the time Jawaharlal Nehru was responsible for this. And because of him, we got liberation 14 years later. If he had the political will, if he was really concerned about Goans then, and really felt that Goa should have been liberated from the Portuguese then we would have got liberation 14 years earlier. Never mind in 1947. He should have thought about us at least in 1950″, said CM Pramod Sawant.
India declared its independence in 1947 and soon after that Nehru had begun with democratic efforts and asked the Portuguese to open negotiations regarding its colonies in India. Nehru proposed different democratic ways to convince Portugal to vacate from Goa but Portugal refused to agree with the Indian Government and continued their rule over Goa.
In 1960, the UN passed a resolution, “Grant independence to colonial countries”. But Portugal claimed Goa as a province and not a colony and so continued being adamant.
In October 1961, Nehru stated that the Indian Government had tried peaceful methods to vacate Portuguese from Goa for 14 years but due to Portugal’s lack of cooperation India was forced to use other methods which were the use of armed forces.
“Portugal is a founding member of NATO (which considers an attack on a single member state as an attack on all of them). The moment India became independent, Goa’s issue was raised in NATO and thereafter in the security council. Nehru’s fight was convincing the international community that Goa should belong to India,” Dr. Mukul Pai Raiturkar explained
What complicated this further was Portuguese never considered Goa as their colony – always as their [integral] part and therefore a necessary component of their sovereignty. The next problem was how to tackle the security council resolution brought by the US to declare India an aggressive nation. This was tackled with the help of Soviet Union who vetoed the resolution”, stated Prabhakar Timble, Former State Election Commissioner.
“It is easy for them to make statements standing here today. They do not know what the situation was back then because their parent organization (referring to the RSS) was not involved in the freedom movement. Even today they are looking at the issue from a British perspective”, said Girish Chodankar, Goa Congress Chief.
Nehru did not intentionally delay Goa’s liberation for 14 years but instead used democratic methods and overcame all the barriers his way to liberate Goa without bloodshed.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India. He has earned respect and a place in every Indian’s heart because of his true nationalism as he gave his all to mold India into an independent and democratic country.
How low will the ministers fall to uplift their own image? Degrading our Freedom Fighters, who have burned midnight lamps to free our nation from foreign rule. Is it ethical for Ministers nowadays to make irrelevant statements about a person who has a huge role to play in India’s freedom struggle? Looking back into history and understanding the immense tension and struggles, how easy do you think it is to handle such situations keeping in mind the peace of the state?
