Reactions of Portugal on the Liberation of Portuguese Territories in India in a Historical Perspective

After a prolong stay in India both Portuguese and French showed their disinterest to leave India after its independence. After a series of discussion and deliberations, French decided to leave India where as Portuguese continued to dishonor the talks and deliberations. The Initiative of India in Liberating Portuguese enclaves in India was appreciated and condemned by many countries and leaders of the world. Like any other defeated countries in the battle, Portugal condemned and criticized this act of India. Lisbon also mourned the loss of Goa and described it as “the fall of our civilization’s biggest and dearest symbol”. A historian, Salmas Calando, told the Geographical Society of Lisbon, “The fall of Goa marks a return into the darkness that ousted before Vasco da Gama arrived there in 1498”. To these problems, even after liberation there arose an administrative challenge which also developed a silent and growing tension between the force of national integration and religious exclusiveness, with the government of India actively supporting the latter cause become a promise once made during the freedom movement days to maintain a center of Portuguese culture in Goa, as French in Pondicherry. History, religion, and politics have got mixed up in Goa so much so that is attracting more attention than is warranted by actual circumstances. Laws and customs which are part of the social pattern of these areas and which are consistent with fundamental human rights and freedom will be respected and modifications will be sought only by negotiation and consent.