Why in News?
Goan freedom fighter Libia Lobo Sardesai was honored with the Padma Shri recently for her pivotal role in the state’s liberation struggle.
- Libia, a Goan nationalist activist, was born in 1924 in Portuguese-ruled Goa and grew up in Bombay.
- In 1954, after the Portuguese assaulted and arrested satyagrahis who had entered Goa to demand an end to colonial rule, India closed its borders and imposed an economic blockade.
- The Portuguese had imposed "total censorship" in Goa, instilling fear and feeding people Portuguese propaganda.
- To counter these lies, the nationalists set up an underground radio station, initially called 'Q'.
- On November 25, 1955, the station began broadcasting hour-long programs in the morning and evening.
- Libia and fellow Goan nationalists Vaman Sardesai and Nicolau Menezes worked nearly 18 hours a day, listening to various bulletins and news from India and abroad.
- They also studying reports, collating information, and scanning Indian and foreign newspapers and newsletters to select information about anti-colonial struggles.
- After 6 years in the jungles, just days before Operation Vijay was launched to liberate Goa, the Indian border police bundled Libia and Vaman in a jeep and took them to a rest-house in Belgaum.
- On December 17, 1961, the station relayed a direct message from V K Krishna Menon addressed to the Portuguese Governor General, asking him to surrender to prevent unnecessary casualties.
- The Portuguese Governor General asked Libia to go into the skies and announce that Goa is free.
- On December 19, 1961, Libia and Vaman flew in an Indian Air Force plane with a radio transmitter aboard and a loudspeaker announcing in Portuguese and Konkani that the Portuguese had surrendered.
Reference
The Indian Express | Libia Lobo Sardesai
