Goa Liberation Day: the end of Portuguese rule in 1961

In 1510 Afonso de Albuquerque took Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur, and it became the capital of the Estado da Índia, Portugal's territories in India. When British India became independent in 1947, Portugal kept Goa, Daman and Diu, holding that they were part of Portugal itself rather than colonies. India withdrew its diplomatic mission from Lisbon in 1953.

Inside Goa and from across the border, a movement against Portuguese rule grew. On 18 June 1946 Ram Manohar Lohia led a protest in Margao, remembered today as Goa Revolution Day. On 15 August 1955 several thousand unarmed activists tried to cross into Goa at six points; Portuguese police opened fire and between 21 and 30 people were killed, after which India closed its consulate in Goa.

On 17 December 1961 Indian army, navy and air force units entered Goa, Daman and Diu in Operation Vijay. The fighting lasted about 36 hours. Governor-General Manuel António Vassalo e Silva, disregarding orders from Lisbon to fight to the last man, surrendered on 19 December. Encyclopedias give the dead as 22 on the Indian side and 30 on the Portuguese side, with more than 4,600 Portuguese personnel taken prisoner.

The operation drew both support and criticism abroad. At the UN Security Council a resolution sponsored by France, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States calling for a ceasefire and Indian withdrawal was defeated by a Soviet veto. Portugal recognised Indian sovereignty over its former territories by a treaty signed on 31 December 1974. In India the events are called the liberation of Goa; English-language encyclopedias usually title them the Indian annexation of Goa.

After the surrender Goa, Daman and Diu became a union territory administered by the central government, first under a military governor and from 1962 with a civilian administration. In an opinion poll on 16 January 1967 Goans voted against merging with Maharashtra, and Goa stayed a separate territory. On 30 May 1987 it became India's 25th state, while Daman and Diu remained a union territory.

The day is official rather than festive. In the morning the Chief Minister hoists the national flag at the state-level ceremony, with a police guard of honour and band; in a recent year it was held at the Goa University ground in Taleigao, and earlier at Campal in Panaji. Ministers hoist the flag at the same time at the taluka headquarters, among them Margao, Ponda and Mapusa. Police, fire services, home guards and students march in a parade, and freedom fighters are honoured. The Goa government's information department publishes the programme and venues in December.

For travellers the main practical point is that it is a public holiday in Goa, so government offices are closed.

Liberation Day falls in Goa's high season, between the Feast of St Francis Xavier in early December and Christmas. These places make the story of Portuguese Goa and its end easier to follow.