Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that Goa would have been liberated from Portuguese rule much earlier had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel lived for some more time.
PM Modi was speaking at an event to celebrate Goa Liberation Day, observed on December 19 every year to mark the day Indian armed forces freed the coastal state from Portuguese rule in 1961.
Modi said the delay in Goa’s liberation meant that several freedom fighters continued to lose their lives in the struggle to free Goa. “Thirty one satyagrahis lost their lives in 1955, including youngsters like Karnail Singh Banipal of Punjab. These brave freedom fighters were restless because at the time a part of India was still under foreign rule.
Patel, deputy PM in the Jawaharlal Nehru cabinet, died on December 15, 1950. He is credited with the liberation of Marathwada region in Maharashtra from erstwhile Nizam’s rule. Speaking about his visit to Rome, Modi said, “Some time ago, I went to Italy and the Vatican City. There I also had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis. I invited him to visit India, to which Pope Francis said “This is the greatest gift you have given me.”
He said Goa never lost its connection with India despite several turbulent centuries of Portuguese rule, as the rest of the country struggled with Mughals and other invaders.
“Goa was under Portuguese rule at a time when in other parts of India Mughals were ruling. The country saw many empires falling and rising. But even after centuries of power games, neither Goa forgot its Indianness nor did India forget its Goa. This is a bond which has only grown stronger with time,” Modi said.
This is not the first time the issue of Goa’s wait to be liberated from Portuguese rule has been raised. Nearly a year ago, chief minister Pramod Sawant had blamed then PM Jawaharlal Nehru for the delay in liberating Goa. Referring to the same issue last month, the chief minister at a function in Margao said he was yet to fathom the reasons for the 14-year delay by the Indian government in securing Goa’s liberation from Portuguese rule and called for a debate over the issue.