When India became a free nation, Portugal continued to hold on to Goa, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. With Portugal unwilling to give up its control over these enclaves, the Indian government eventually authorised its military to launch an operation to take over Goa, and Daman and Diu. After the December 18-19, 1961 military action by India, the enclaves became a part of the Indian Union.
In 1950 India urged Portugal to start negotiations over the status of its colonies in India. But the Portuguese government claimed that these territories were an integral part of Portugal. With no resolution forthcoming, the Indian government withdrew its diplomatic mission from Lisbon on June 11, 1953. India tightened the screws on the enclaves, taking calculated measures such as trade and transport barriers and visa restrictions. In 1954 armed Indian groups targeted Portuguese troops in Dadra and Nagar Haveli leading to their surrender.
On India’s independence day in 1955, hundreds of unarmed citizens tried to enter Goa. The Portuguese police responded with force and an estimated two dozen activists were killed. India soon shut its consul office in Goa. The stalemate continued and India’s defence minister Krishna Menon hinted that the use of force could not be ruled out.
In 1960, ignoring the advice of his own defence minister and senior army officers, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio de Oliveira Salazar urged Goa Governor General Manuel António Vassalo e Silva to fight till the bitter end. “[I] believe that sacrifice is the only way for us to keep up to the highest traditions and provide service to the future of the nation. Do not expect the possibility of truce or of Portuguese prisoners, as there will be no surrender rendered because I feel that our soldiers and sailors can be either victorious or dead,” Salazar said.
In the weeks leading to the Indian attack, bitter accusations and counter-accusations were hurled by the two sides. On October 23, 1961, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said that the time had come to “consider afresh what method should be adopted to free Goa from Portuguese rule.” Tension was heightened by two incidents in November: alleged firing at an Indian vessel by Portuguese forces and at an Indian fishing boat, the second incident claiming one life. On December 5,India announced “precautionary” troop movements to counter “aggressive action taken by the Portuguese against Indian shipping and fishing vessels”.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha Nehru said on December 11: ‘Our patience is certainly exhausted. We still hope that the Portuguese…will accept the natural culmination of all this, which is their withdrawal from Goa…[I]t is never too late to take the right step and [India] hope[s] that, in accordance with the immutable principles of humanity and the irreversible processes of history, the Government of Portugal will leave their Indian colonies….The people of India are determined to ensure that their independence is complete and that there are no longer any vestiges of colonial rule on their territory.”
The Indian takeover of Goa, which was manned by a tiny contingent of Portuguese forces, was now imminent. The Times of India reported on December 16, 1961: “To the United States, India’s efforts to bring the Goa question to a head at the present moment when bigger and more consequential problems are facing it appear somewhat inopportune. It may harm allied cause, thus promoting communist cause elsewhere. The United States would like to see this possibility avoided. While giving this advice to India, [the]US is using its influence in Lisbon to make it see the writing on the wall. It is advising Lisbon to withdraw from a place where it is not wanted.”
Eventually, the military action lasted barely two days. Indian forces attacked Goa from three sides — Savantvadi in the south, Karwar in the north, and Belgaum in the southwest on December 18. Air raids were also conducted by the Indian Air Force. Resistance was minimum from the vastly outnumbered Portuguese troops, and they quickly surrendered. At 8.30 p.m on December 19 Governor General Silva signed the instrument of surrender: 450 years of Portuguese rule in Goa came to an end. The Indians took over 4,500 prisoners. The Daman and Diu operations also ended on the same day.
While most Indians welcomed the operation some dissenting voices were raised as well. The respected statesman C. Rajagopalachari, who had been India’s last Governor-General and founded the Swatantra Party, said that India had “totally lost the moral power to raise her voice against militarism”.
Nehru, however, explained the Indian action in these words, ten days after the liberation of Goa, and Daman and Diu: “They [the Portuguese] came and established themselves when the Moghul Empire was breaking up. During the whole of the British period in India…they were protected by Britain, the dominating power in India. When the British went, they remained as a shadow…The point is that they [the Portuguese] were here simply because of the protection of the British power in India. Once that power went, their departure became inevitable . . .”
Also on this day:
1955 — Vijay Mallya, Indian industrialist, was born
1971 — Barkha Dutt, Indian television journalist, was born
