Nostalgia: How Goa celebrated India’s independence on August 15, 1947

August 15, 1947. India gained independence from the British rule but Goa Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were still Estado da Índia (Portuguese states of India). It had been 437 years since Afonso de Albuquerque captured Goa as the first Portuguese territorial possession in Asia in 1510. As India celebrated its ‘tryst with destiny’, Goa joined the celebrations and the war cry for its freedom from the Portuguese gained momentum.
The New York Times:
India and Pakistan become nations; clashes continue.
The Washington Post:
India achieves sovereignty amid scenes of wild rejoicing (a two-column report).
Chicago Daily Tribune:
Mountbatten new Governor of Hindu India. Punjab riots rage on; 250 dead (one-column report).
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The Daily Telegraph:
India is now two dominions. Power transferred at night. Earldom conferred on Lord Mountbatten.
A Vida (a Portuguese newspaper published from Goa):
A emancipacao da India (The emancipation of India)
O Oriente(Portuguese newspaper dated August 16, 1947):
A Independencia da India: No limiar duma nova era (India’s Independence: On the threshold of a new era)
A Voz da India (Portuguese newspaper):
A Independencia da India: A Indian Livre (India’s Independence: A free India).
August 12, 1947: While India prepared for independence and transfer of power on August 15, 1947, Goa was busy welcoming Fernando de Quintanilha Mendonca Dias, the new in-charge of the Portuguese government in India. This was an interim arrangement because India and Portugal did not have diplomatic ties and British General Manager of the Port of Mormugao served as the Honorary British Consul in Goa. But Pandit Nehru had other plans. Barely three days after Mendonca Dias assumed office, Mirza Rashid Ali Baig was deemed the Consul General of India in Goa. Mirza Baig had served the British Indian Army but had resigned later. He was the inaugural Consul-General for India in the French Establishments in India at Pondicherry and was married to Tara Ali Baig, a writer and social reformer and the first Asian woman President of the International Union for Child Welfare in Geneva.
August 13, 1947: As the Consul General of India, Mirza Baig issued an open invitation for people to join the independence day festivities in Altinho, Panjim.
August 14, 1947: O Heraldo, Goa’s oldest newspaper (founded in 1900), carried a one-column front page report about the Prime Minister of Indonesia sending a congratulatory telegram to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammad Ali Jinnah from the Indonesian people on its independence. Other news in O’Heraldo included report about the Mayor of Bombay throwing an austere banquet and news of the government releasing all political prisoners.
Nehru’s telegram to the Consul of India in Goa:
A Vida newspaper carried the Portuguese translation of the text of Pandit Nehru’s telegram to the Consul of India in Goa. It read: On this day when India conquers independence, I send my requests to you and your compatriots and their intermediary that our Independence brings responsibilities and care, but we have to face the future with energy, confidence and faith in India’s destiny and, in the full hope that everyone Indian, whatever his position or the field of his activity, or wherever he is, will give the best of his or her service to India. Jai Hind.
August 15, 1947: Nearly 800 local Goans gathered at the Consulate office in Altinho before the formal unfurling of the tricolour at 9.30 am. This group did not include the government servants but the medicine and pharmacy students, with the distinguished surgeon and professor. Dr. Batista de Sousa were present. The Portuguese government had permitted the hoisting of the Indian flag as long as the Portuguese flag was also full mast. A group of men sang Vande Matram and Jana Gana Mana. They were photographed in a group and Jai Hind, Mahatma Gandhi ki jai and Pt. Nehru ki jai thundered through the air. Mr Baig also read a message from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Small Indian national flags were distributed as a souvenir.
Later a procession was taken out in Panjim but the crowd was dispersed with a lathi charge.
In Agaçaim village, nearly 300 Goans took out a procession announcing the advent of the era of freedom in India. In Canacona, the revellers were dispersed forcibly by the police. Though there was the fear of police intervention, locals went out in the streets to celebrate and Christians engaged priests to say masses in churches. Sensing the patriotic fervour, the Portuguese reluctantly issued a police order permitting locals to hoist the Indian national flag atop buildings with the strict clause that Portuguese flag had to be also flown at full mast.
On August 3, 1947, Ram Manohar Lohia had announced that Goa’s independence would not coincide with Indian independence and that the Goans would have to continue their struggle, “not just for civil liberties, but for freedom itself”. It would take another 14 years before Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule and became a part of the Indian territory. Now, Goa Liberation Day is celebrated on December 19, in commemoration of the Indian armed forces liberating Portuguese-ruled Goa in 1961.
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Pataleo: The must-eat sweet on August 15: Pataleo has nothing to do with freedom, it is a traditional Goan sweet made on August 15 for the feast of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary. Pronounced Pathayo, the pataleo (also known as patoli and patole) is prepared using rice flour, coconut, jaggery, ghee, powdered cardamom, salt and turmeric leaves. Soaked rice is ground into a smooth batter, spread over turmeric leaves, filled with freshly grated coconut and jaggery stir-cooked in ghee and then wrapped into a tidy parcel and steamed.