History of Goa Revolution Day will be included in class 11 curriculum: CM Sawant

Gurudas Kunde, president of the Goa, Daman and Diu Freedom Fighters Association, who spoke before Sawant, had appealed to the government to include the history of Goa’s freedom struggle in textbooks. Kunde also criticised the government for the delay in freedom fighters’ pensions and for failing to provide jobs to family members of freedom fighters.

“There are hardly 15-20 surviving freedom fighters. We might not be having votes, but our principles are still intact,” said Kunde.

After Kunde’s speech, Sawant gave an assurance that the pending pensions of the freedom fighters would be processed within the next 45 days.

“All 100 applications of the children of freedom fighters pending with the state government will be disposed of within a year and applicants will be employed before June 18, 2024,” Sawant said.

June 18 is recognised as Goa Revolution Day on account of the clarion call given by Ram Manohar Lohia on the day in 1946 to the people of Goa to unite and fight against the Portuguese rulers.

Paying tribute to the freedom fighters and martyrs of Goa’s liberation struggle, Sawant said, “On June 18, 1946, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and Dr Juliao Menezes had led the initiative to resist persecution by Portuguese rulers, and the people of Goa started a mass revolution to take back their homeland from the Portuguese.”