It will be a smooth ride for the President of India Ramnath Kovind who is on a two day visit to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Goa’s Liberation. To ensure that the President has the smooth ride all the potholes repaired over night. The repairs may however last only for the 48 hours until the President spent in Goa as they have been done in such a hurry.

The president is expected to visit the Martyrs memorial at Azad Maidan to pay tribute to the Freedom Fighters at 5:40 pm on Saturday December 19 2020. Later the President will attend a cultural event being organised at the Dayanand Bandodkar football ground. It may be recall that the ground was a first football stadium built by the first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar. It was destroyed by the late Manohar Parrikar who was searching for a venue for the first IFFI held in 2004.

The Goa Liberation day is being celebrated on December 19 though the Indian Army actually captured Panaji on the previous day December 18. They had to do it for permission to cross the river and enter Panaji take down the Portuguese flag from the Adil Shah Palace which was the seat of the Portuguese government.

In the meanwhile the then governor general Vasco D’Silva had fled to Vasco where the Portuguese navy was located. Goa was saved not because of the Indian army but because Vasco Silva refused to carryout the orders of the dictator Salazar to destroy Goa. Though a few bridges were blown There was minimum damage and the General surrendered to the Indian Army.

While Goa and Daman were liberated on December 19 1961, the Portuguese held territories of Diu and Nagarhaveli were liberated by Goan rebels led by the Azad Gomantak Dal six yeare before in 1955. The than Chief Minister of Mumbai Moraji Desai prevented the Portuguese from sending troupes from Daman as he did not want the communist to capture Diu and Nagarhaveli.

Meanwhile there was the controversy on the role of the first PM Jawaharlal Nehru who is blamed by the BJP and Goan Freedom fighters for delaying the liberation of Goa. Nehru who believed the policy of non-violence thought that the Portuguese will withdraw voluntarily like the French did in the case of Pudichery a French settlement. It was only under pressure from the then Defense Minister Krishna Menon and after the Portuguese army had killed hundreds of Freedom Fighters from Pune that Nehru had agreed reluctantly to send the Indian army. Nehru and the Congress party paid the price for the delay of 14 years in the liberation of Goa as they did not get the single seat in the first assembly elections held in Goa in 1962.

For a full account of the Liberation of Goa read Rajan Narayans book on the Liberation of Goa written to mark the Golden jubilee available at the Department of Culture.