NEWS

60th anniversary of the liberation of Goa was celebrated

DETAILS

• The Liberation of Goa was a military action undertaken with code-named Operation Vijay by the Indian Armed Forces.
• involved air, sea and land strikes for over 36 hours during which Goa, territories of Diu, Daman were liberated from 450 years of Portuguese rule in 1961
• On December 18, the Portuguese Governor General Vassalo da Silva gave up control of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu.
• A ceremony was conducted on 19 December where the instrument of surrender was signed bringing to an end  451 years of Portuguese Rule in Goa.

REFERENDUM AND STATEHOOD

• To decide the future of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu within the Indian Union a referendum held in the state of Goa, India, on 16 January 1967
• Offered the people of Goa a choice between continuing as a union territory or merging with the state of Maharashtra
• Only referendum to have been held in independent India
• People of Goa voted against the merger and Goa continued to be a union territory.
• In 1987, Goa became a full-fledged state within the Indian Union.