Goa Liberation Day

Goa Liberation Day commemorates 19 December 1961, when Portuguese colonial rule in Goa ended after more than four centuries. Although India became independent in 1947, Portugal continued to hold Goa, Daman and Diu and rejected demands to transfer them to India. The years that followed saw political mobilisation, satyagraha and underground resistance by people seeking an end to Portuguese rule. In December 1961 the Government of India launched Operation Vijay, involving the armed forces; Portuguese authority collapsed and Goa, Daman and Diu came under Indian administration. They were constituted as a Union Territory in 1962. Goa later became a separate state on 30 May 1987, while Daman and Diu remained a Union Territory. Liberation Day honours freedom fighters and those involved in the transition, while also marking the beginning of a new political chapter in which Goa’s distinctive Konkani language, culture and institutions developed within the Indian Union.

Goa Liberation Day helps remember an important person, institution, event or public value in India.