NT BUZZ highlights some of the women who played a key role in Goa’s freedom struggle, leading from the front, enduring jail time, and refusing to relent in their passion to free Goa
NT BUZZ
Often unsung and frequently forgotten, a number of Goan women were also part of the effort to liberate Goa from foreign yoke; trading their freedom so Goa could have hers.
“These women waged a fight without any weapons or armed struggles,” says Goan historian and research scholar Dr. Rohit Phalgaonkar. “They simply raised their voices and were punished with silence, confinement, and cruelty.”
Sudhatai Joshi was one such freedom fighter, who stood her ground to be counted. Joshi was a member of the National Congress (Goa) and was elected its president in 1955. In the same year, she organised a satyagraha in Mapusa. This fight was initially her husband’s, Pt. Mahadevshastri Joshi, a scholar of Vedas, but she made it her own. On the day that was marked, April 6, 1955, she addressed a crowd of satyagrahis, refusing to stop even when held at gunpoint by a Portuguese policeman. Following this, she was arrested and imprisoned for four years until her trial. However, she refused to apologise to the Portuguese court. Instead, she chose a 10- year imprisonment and led a hunger strike inside the jail, protesting the inhuman treatment of prisoners.
Indeed, during the Portuguese regime, conditions inside the Aguad jail were very bad – filthy cells, crumbling walls, unsanitary quarters, and tiny gaps where just a few rays of light could enter. For women, the torment was combined with shame and abuse meted out by male guards.
Nevertheless, the prison also did not scare the likes of Vastala Pandurang Kirtani, the woman who marched alongside Dr. Ram Manhoar Lohia during the 1946 satyagraha at Margao. She boldly raised the slogan ‘Jai Hind’ a rebellious echo against the colonial cry of ‘Viva Salazar’. Her arrest triggered a wave of protest with over 44 women coming forward, demanding that she be released or that they be arrested
with her.
But being imprisoned wasn’t just about the inhuman conditions. It was the treatment of women who were tortured the same way as male prisoners. “In some cases, they would torture these women to reveal the names of their underground allies, yet their spirit did not break,” says historian Sanjeev Sardesai. Among those tortured were Berta de Menezes Braganza and Celina
Olga Moniz.
Braganza, the niece of the renowned Dr. TB Cunha, was a member of the Goa Youth League and secretary of its Goa branch in 1945. She was beaten up by the Portuguese police for trying to organise satyagraha at Margao on June 30, 1946 and arrested for hosting underground meetings for youth
resistance.
Moniz meanwhile travelled along with other nationalists to secure help and financial assistance for the movement. She was arrested on January 26, 1955 while crossing the Mandovi in a canoe holding a tricolour flag. She was beaten and mentally abused during the interrogation. No matter the storm these women faced in prison, they found freedom in retaliation and strikes. “At Aguad Port and Jail Complex, escape was nearly impossible,” explains Sardessai. “But women went on hunger strikes, demanded better food and protested for humane treatment. They turned their captivity into resistance.”
“Despite family opposition, these women became role models—symbols of silent strength,” adds Sardessai. “Goa salutes them today and always.”
