Rebellion that succeeded

Little known in the history of Indian Independence and the subsequent integration of territories into the Union is the chapter on the liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli that lies on the western coast.

What makes the episode remarkable is that it was the rare and perhaps the only instance in the chequered movement for Independence of an armed uprising succeeding in evicting foreign rulers, in this case the Portuguese.

It was a few years after Independence that a group of young men and women took up arms against the colonial stragglers, who had a stranglehold over villages in what is now a 491-square-km district in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

The author, Neelesh Kulkarni, puts together a narrative of the struggle through interviews with a few surviving participants, descendants of the participants, site visits, newspaper archives, letters and diary entries.

According to him, the impact of Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘satyagraha’ was such that most children in Independent India grew up believing that non-violent resistance was the sole reason for the success of the freedom struggle. As a result, the role of those who took up arms to free the country from foreign dominance has long been sidelined in public memory.

While armed resistance, including by the Indian National Army, Hindustan Republican Army, Naval mutiny and Chittagong uprising, was not successful in directly meeting the objectives, the fight at Dadra and Nagar Haveli did succeed.

In an easy reading storybook format, the author starts off with the arrival of explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498 and the Europeans establishing a foothold. He then goes on to elucidate a series of events from 1954 onwards, highlighting the courage, resilience and determination of ordinary citizens, who risked their lives for Independence, ending five centuries of Portuguese rule.

What most people would not know is that from 1954 to 1961, Dadra and Nagar Haveli existed as a de facto state known as Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli, though internationally it was still recognised as a Portuguese colony.

For less than one full day, it had an Indian Administrative Service officer as its prime minister. He was sworn in on August 16, 1961, and his sole task was to sign the instrument of accession to the Indian State on that day itself and hoist the Tricolour on the same mast from which the Portuguese ensign had once flown.

All elements of the struggle, including the politics, planning, fundraising, reconnaissance, the fighting and liberation of villages and the final merger, as well as personal accounts, are well described and weaved into a story.

The book offers a well-researched historical account that provides the pleasure of reading a thriller.