Rajnath Singh to unveil Goa liberation memorial on August 26

Indian Opinion Analysis

Goa was the last territory to be liberated from colonial rule, with the Indian Army ending 451 years of Portuguese control in Operation Vijay in December 1961. The August 1955 satyagraha at Patradevi marked one of the bloodiest episodes of the earlier peaceful phase. The memorial gives a permanent public site to a sacrifice often overshadowed by the military action that followed. The event also comes in an election year, offering the BJP-led government an opportunity to foreground its nationalist credentials in the coastal state.