Advertisements
Advertisements
प्रश्न
Why did the people of Dadra Nagar Haveli oppose the Portuguese?
उत्तर
Dadra and Nagar-Haveli are located in the interior parts of the Gujarat coast. It is on the northern banks of the river Damanganga. It was part of Portuguese dominion and was administered by a Portuguese governor. It was anticipated that after India’s independence the Portuguese would hand over these regions to India and quit. However, they did not do so. Therefore, the local people in Dadra and Nagar-Haveli rose against the Portuguese.
The organisations, namely, ‘United Front of Goans’, ‘Azad Gomantak Dal’ came together and planned a campaign to free these regions from the Portuguese rule. In 1954, Francis Mascarenhas, Vimal Sardesai, the leaders of ‘Azad Gomantak Dal’ intensified the struggle. With fierce protestations people captured Nagar-Haveli.
The other organisation, ‘United Front of Goans’ took hold of Dadra. ‘Rashtravadi Mukti Sena’, a branch of ‘Azad Gomantak Dal’ took over Naroli, Pimparia and some part of Silvasa. Local police stations and administrative offices were attacked. Public unrest reached such extent that the Portuguese army had to beat a retreat. The Portuguese Captain Fidalgo surrendered.
The Government of India appointed K. G. Badalani to bring normalcy in administration in these area. According to the agreement with the Indian government, the region of Dadra and Nagar-Haveli was merged in India on 2nd August 1954. Vishvanath Lavande, Rajabhau Vakankar, Sudhir Phadke, Nanasaheb Kajarekar, Nilubhau Limaye, Vasant Zanjale and many others participated in this struggle. In 1961 Dadra and Nagar-Haveli were given the status of ‘Union Territories’.
