The Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Story... 18 June 1946 By Valmiki Faleiro
Goa's movement for freedom from the colonial yoke began with a rally in Margao on 14 November 1912. Leaders like Roque Correia Afonso, Luís de Menezes Bragança, HP Hegde Desai and Dr. Miguel de Loyola Furtado surged with the founding of the Goa National Congress in Margao in 1928 by Tristao Braganca Cunha. The movement died down after the 1930 Colonial Act reduced Goa to a police state. A spark was needed to resuscitate it. Held from May 1944 at Lahore Fort jail, the firebrand Indian nationalist, Gandhian and socialist, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia (1909-67), was shifted to Poona and released on 11 April 1946. He had a friend in nearby Bombay. When Lohia studied for a master's and doctorate in Economics at Berlin University, Dr. Julião de Menezes (1909-80) of Assolna-Goa pursued MD Dermatology at the same university. Aged the same, both were socialists and student activists in Europe. Menezes shifted from Assolna to Bombay after his youth club, Clube Juvenile, was implicated in the Piazza Cross demolition at Assolna in 1938, the club disbanded and its office sealed. He launched the Gomantak Praja Mandal in 1939 in Bombay. Lohia had been enfeebled by the incarceration. Menezes suggested he recuperate in Goa. Both arrived in Assolna on 10 June 1946 and were due to return to Bombay on 19 June 1946. Later day freedom fighter Evágrio Jorge splashed news of the duo's arrival in the local daily O Heraldo the following day. A stream of young nationalists turned sleepy Assolna into a hushed Mecca, seeking advice from Lohia. Among them were Dr. Antonio Sequeira, Prof. Dionisio Ribeiro, Evagrio Jorge, Adv. Fanchu Loyola, Purushottam Kakodkar, Vasant Kare and Vicente Joao de Figueiredo (Evagrio Jorge, Goa's Awakening: Reminiscences of the 1946 Civil Disobedience Movement, Page 10). Meeting young men at Mormugao and Panjim between 15 and 17 June 1946, Lohia spread word that he would defy the ban on public meetings and address Goans in Margao on 18 June 1946. Returning to Margao on 17 June 1946, the duo met nationalists at Damodar Vidyalaya. Suspecting Portuguese plans to thwart the meeting, they did not proceed to Assolna but checked into Hotel Republica at Francisco Luis Gomes Road (old Station Road) in Margao. Portuguese police waited at Assolna. They then instructed all Salcete taxis to report at the Margao police station with their passengers before proceeding to the destination. The police surrounded the venue the next day. Small groups of people, though, waited in expectation. Lohia and Menezes hoodwinked the police and arrived at the venue in a horse carriage. Policemen encircling the ground refused to let them in. "Move aside," thundered Lohia. The sheer force of his personality overawed the constables. Three persons stepped forward to garland Lohia and Menezes. The Portuguese police chief of Margao (or was it the taluka administrator?), Capitão Fortunato Miranda, pointed a revolver at Lohia. Lohia put his hand on the captain's shoulder, asked him to calm down, pushed him aside, and proceeded to the spot to address the people. From almost nowhere, a huge crowd -- including women -- suddenly converged on the open ground from all directions, like bees to a hive. Margao surgeon, Dr. Rama Krishna Hegde said Capt. Miranda ordered Lohia not to speak. Lohia asked why. Miranda replied, "You are a foreigner". Lohia said, "I am an Indian and this is a part and parcel of India. I am here and I will be here. I am going to speak to my people." Miranda said, "No, you cannot." Lohia said, "I will. Arrest me if you have the guts." An enraged Miranda whipped out his revolver again and held it to Lohia. "Stop!" Miranda commanded. Lohia smiled, and in no uncertain terms, told Miranda, "I won't! Put that stupid gun away! It doesn't scare me" and brushed aside the hand holding the weapon. Miranda was taken aback, but did not allow Lohia to speak beyond a few opening sentences. "You are under arrest" Miranda said. Holstering the revolver, Miranda beckoned a group of policemen and had Lohia and Menezes physically lifted and whisked to the quartel (police station). A baton charge dispersed the crowd. The crowd estimated at around 5,000 -- the largest political gathering in Goa until then -- regrouped and marched to the police station, demanding release of the duo. The situation threatened to get out of hand. The police requested Lohia and Menezes to ask the crowd to disperse. Lohia told the crowd from the police station, "Gomantak is part of Hindustan, and Portugal rules over it as the British do in the rest of the country. This is an accident, a bad dream, and it will pass. The state of Hindustan will come. Our people are creating it. ... I am not asking you today to overthrow Portuguese rule. That will come in its own time. ... People of Gomantak, think freely, speak freely, write freely..." he exhorted the crowd, before asking them to go home but to continue the struggle for civil liberties. The venue of the meeting has since been named Lohia Maidan and 18 June is observed as Goa Revolution Day (Kranti Divas). Lohia and Menezes were shifted to Panjim the same day. The following night, Lohia was put in a train at Vasco and, under heavy police guard, was seen off at the border in Castle Rock. Menezes was released in Panjim. He took a taxi home. The driver was German, a survivor of the spy ships destroyed at Mormugao by the British during World War II. The cabbie was thrilled that his passenger had studied in his fatherland. Menezes then escaped from Goa. That episode sparked the last phase of Goa's freedom movement. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Join a discussion on Goa-related issues by posting your comments on this or other issues via email to goa...@goanet.org See archives at http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-