On June 13, 1955, Jagannath Rao Joshi, a Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader along with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Karyakarta of Karnataka, launched the Goa Satyagraha. Joshi was accompanied by a team of about 3,000 workers, including women.
On reaching the Goa border, the Portuguese resorted to lathi charge and firing on the Satyagrahis. On August 15, 1955, more than 5,000 Satyagrahis were fired upon by the Portuguese army deployed in Goa, killing about 51 people. Many such movements continued till 1961. Sudhir Phadke ‘Babuji’, a musician and volunteer renowned for the Goa movement, contributed to cultural initiatives.
The Rashtra Sevika Samiti also participated in the Goa Liberation Movement led by Saraswati Apte ‘Tai’ and arranged food and other supplies for all satyagrahi groups gathered in Pune. The number of Satyagrahis of Jan Sangh was almost four times that of the combined protesters of all other parties.
United Front of Goans (UFG)
The United Front of Goans (UFG) organisation came into existence in Mumbai.
Dadar was liberated by the United Front of Goans, and Nagar Haveli was liberated by 40-50 Sangh volunteers led by Vinayak Rao Apte, along with the activists from Daman and Goa of Azad Gomantak Dal led by Prabhakar Vitthal Senari and Prabhakar Vaidya. The pressure to liberate Goa was mounting while Prime Minister Nehru sought a diplomatic solution. He argued that, since Portugal was a member of NATO at the time and the Kashmir issue was also at loggerheads, military action by Bharat would not be appropriate. However, rejecting Prime Minister Nehru’s diplomatic path, the Movement for the Liberation of Goa started in 1955.
During the initial days of the movement, Raja Bhai Mahakal died of bullet injuries. After this tragic incident, the people appealed to the Government of Bharat to help the agitators, but, rather than taking a positive approach towards them, the government decided to ban the activists.
Atrocities on Satyagrahis
Due to the atrocities of Portuguese administration, the condition of All India Jana Sangh Minister ‘Karnataka Kesari’ Jagannath Rao Joshi and Maharashtra Jansangh Vice President Anna Saheb Kavdi had become very alarming.
In addition, two Satyagrahis of the Jansangh group, which Jagannath Rao Joshi led, died as a result of the terrible tortures, one of whom was Amirchand Gupta of Mathura. (Panchjanya, 1955)
Sacrifice of Satyagrahis
On August 15, when the 9th anniversary of independence was being celebrated all over Bharat, the beloved, brave patriot sons of the Akhand Bharat were marching ahead, facing the guns of the barbaric Portuguese and were constantly fired upon fiercely. Not merely one or two but 51 brave heroes sacrificed their lives on the mother’s altar that day. The number of injured reached around 300. In a small area, such a large number of unarmed people have been killed in a day; hardly an example of this can be found in the history of the world.
When the sun rose, a group of Satyagrahis entered Goa with the slogan “Portuguese Quit India”. Portuguese soldiers posted on the border continued to fire incessantly on unarmed Satyagrahis. Satyagrahis continued their march while laying down their life one after the other. There was a race to give the supreme sacrifice. Approximately 5000 Satyagrahis entered the Goa border, out of which about 51 were martyred on the spot and more than 300 were injured. Women displayed greater valour than men in this nonviolent struggle. The bravery of 40-year-old Subhadra Bai reminded one of the Queen of Jhansi. She took the flag from the male Satyagrahi and presented an excellent example by taking a bullet to her chest. (Panchjanya, August 22, 1955)
Jan Sangh Public Meeting and Deendayal Upadhyaya’s Speech
A large public meeting was organised by the Jan Sangh in Delhi at Rajendra Nagar, where, while paying homage to the sacrifices, a demand was made of the government to take police action.
Addressing the gathering, Deendayal Upadhyaya said, “The Portuguese regime wants to stop Indians from agitating in Goa by intimidating the people by barbaric atrocities, but the people of Bharat are not afraid. They will not bow down to Portuguese atrocities at all. The Jansangh will further strengthen the movement by sending a large number of Satyagrahis.”
JanSangh General Secretary Deendayal Upadhyaya had drawn attention to the death of Amir Chand and demanded the safety of Satyagrahis like Jagannath Rao Joshi, etc, by sending a telegram to Home Minister Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant. (Panchjanya, 1955)
Shri Guruji demands that the Nehru Government provide police assistance to the Goa Liberation Movement.
In a statement, RSS Sarsanghchalak Shri Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar (Guruji) said, “There will be no better opportunity to take police action in Goa and liberate Goa. This will enhance our international prestige and also give lessons to the nations around us who are always threatening us. The Government of Bharat has backstabbed the Liberation Movement by announcing that it would not support the Goa Liberation Movement. The Government of Bharat should respond to this inhuman firing on Indian citizens and take measures to free the part of the motherland which is still languishing in the slavery of foreigners.” (Panchjanya, August 22, 1955)
