18th century An early attempt to overthrow Portuguese rule was the
Conspiracy of the Pintos in 1787. The cause of the revolt was racial discrimination by the Portuguese in the church and the administration. The
Goan subjects were not given equal rights as their
Portuguese counterparts. The conspirators unsuccessfully tried to replace Portuguese rule with self-rule under Ignacio Pinto, the head of the family of the Pintos with the support of
Tipu Sultan.
Early 20th century The
abolition of the
Portuguese monarchy in 1910 raised hopes that the colonies would be granted
self-determination; however, when Portuguese colonial policies remained unchanged, an organised and dedicated anti-colonial movement emerged. Menezes Bragança organised a rally in
Margao denouncing the law and, for some time, the
Goans received the same rights as mainland
Portuguese. However, the
Portuguese Catholic Church strongly supported pro-colonial policies and attempted to influence Goan
Christians to oppose the independence movement. The Portuguese
Patriarch of the Catholic Church in Goa issued over 60 official letters to the priests of the
archdiocese, instructing them to preach to their congregations that
salvation lay with the Portuguese and in dissociating themselves from cultural-political relationship with the rest of India.
1920–1940 In 1928,
Tristão de Bragança Cunha founded the Goa National Congress. At the
Calcutta session of the
Indian National Congress, the Goa Congress Committee received recognition and representation in the
All-India Congress Committee. In May 1930, Portugal passed the
"Acto Colonial" (Colonial Act), which restricted political rallies and meetings within all Portuguese colonies. The introduction of this act politically relegated Goa to the status of a
colony. The Portuguese also introduced a policy of compulsory
conscription in
Portuguese India, which contributed significantly to growing resentment against the colonial government. By the end of the day, Menezes was released and Lohia was driven outside of Goa and released. Their arrest at the demonstration motivated people to hold large-scale protests in support of the independence movement, which resulted in large-scale arrests and the incarceration of over 1,500 people.
Demand for autonomy Within Goa and Portugal, periodic demands for autonomy for Portuguese India continued. In July 1946, a public meeting was held which openly petitioned the
Salazar administration to grant autonomy to the
Estado da India. The meeting was facilitated by
José Inácio de Loyola, and inspired the formation of a committee chaired by
Uday Bhembre to pursue autonomy. Bhembre's committee failed to provoke a response from the Portuguese administration, and subsequently the last demand for autonomy was made by Purushottam Kakodkar in early 1961.
Diplomatic efforts In December 1947, independent India and
Portugal established diplomatic ties. In January 1948, Indian Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru met the Portuguese
consul and raised the issue of Goa's integration into the Indian Union. The Portuguese, who valued their strategic Indian colonial outposts, were unwilling to negotiate and by 1948, the Goan anti-colonial movement had virtually disbanded. In January 1953, the Indian
delegation in Portugal (a representative body of the Indian government), sought to negotiate with Portugal on the issue of its territories in India. The Indian government offered a direct transfer; however, the Portuguese refused and diplomatic relations between the two countries deteriorated. On 11 June 1953, the Indian delegation in
Lisbon was closed and diplomatic ties were formally severed. In July 1953, Nehru stated that the Indian government's position involved French and Portuguese colonies in India integrating into the Indian Union. Despite Nehru clearly stating India's policy in relation to colonial outposts, Portugal and
France refused to
cede their colonies. Subsequently, India launched a campaign through the
UN in an attempt to persuade the Portuguese to leave India peacefully. The Portuguese government appealed to various international
powers, charging India with violation of Portugal's territorial
sovereignty due to the actions of the Satyagrahas in crossing Portuguese Goan borders. Nehru was subsequently pressured to announce that India formally disapproved of the Satyagrahas. Nehru's denouncement of the Satyagraha severely impacted on the independence movement. Following Nehru's professed lack of support for the satyagrahi, a satyagrahi plan to cross the Goan border at
Terekhol Fort attracted very few supporters. Despite the low turnout, a small group managed to cross the Goan border to successfully occupy the Terekhol fort overnight. With the exception of a small number of satyagrahas and the activities of the All-Goa Political Party Committee, lacking the support of the national Indian government, the anti-colonial movement lost its momentum. Pro-independence advocacy actions were sporadic and few were willing to involve themselves in the movement. On 18 June 1954, Satyagrahis infiltrated Goa and hoisted the Indian flag; however, the demonstrators and suspected sympathisers were arrested, and anti-colonialist
activists Dr. Gaitonde and Shriyut Deshpande were
deported to Portugal. India could not immediately assimilate these enclaves into the Indian Union, due to the contravention of international law involved. Both enclaves instead functioned as
de facto independent states, administered by a self-declared government called the Varishta Panchayat of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli. On 15 August 1954, hundreds of Indians (mostly from Maharashtra) crossed the Portuguese Goan borders, defying a ban by the Indian government on participating in Satyagrahas. The Portuguese responded to the incursion by shooting at the Satyagrahis, some of whom were injured or killed. This bitterness was compounded by Goan Catholics being, on average, more educated and hence more economically prosperous than Goan Hindus. According to the 1909 statistics in the Catholic Encyclopedia, the total Catholic population was 293,628 out of a total population 365,291 (80.33%). Following his release from prison,
Pundalik Gaitonde conducted a series of international lectures, claiming Hindu dominance of Goa.
Anant Priolkar also wrote many articles and books, claiming that Konkani language was a dialect of Marathi and so Goa needed to be merged with Maharashtra. These propaganda campaigns enabled the Indian government to become more anti-Portuguese. In 1961, India proclaimed that Goa should join India "either with full peace or with full use of force". In August 1961, India began military preparations. Following Nehru's statement on 1 December 1961, that India would "not remain silent" in relation to the Goan situation, Indian troops were stationed close to the Goan border. ==Annexation of Goa==