The Goa government will host year-long celebrations to mark the Diamond Jubilee year of the state’s liberation from Portuguese rule starting on December 19, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced on Friday.
The year-long celebrations will be highlighted through various programs in Goa, as well as across the country with a program in other states, Sawant said.
“From December 19 of this year we will begin the sixtieth year of the liberation of Goa. We have decided to celebrate the year with programs throughout the year. Throughout the year we will have programs celebrating Goa’s last 60 years and highlighting the liberation movement, ”Sawant said.
“We will highlight the advances that we have made since 1961 and even before that, not only during the Portuguese regime, but also in the earlier era – the Kadamba dynasty, Marathas, etc.,” Sawant said.
“The programs will not only be in Goa, but throughout the country in each state, a program will be organized in each state capital or any other city to promote Goa and our tourism, as well as in Delhi,” Sawant said.
The state government has requested funding from the Center for the celebrations in the amount of Rs 100 million.
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“We have applied for special grants from the Center for these functions and we are confident that they will help us,” Sawant said.
Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule with the Indian army marching on December 18, 1961 in an operation codenamed Operation Vijay. The 48-hour bloodless operation ended when the Portuguese governor general hoisted a white flag over the secretariat complex indicating that the Portuguese had handed over the capital of what was once a vast maritime empire in Asia.
Sawant said he hoped the Goa exhibition across the country would help boost the state’s tourism prospects.
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