We all know that the Indian armed forces had conducted 'Operation Vijay' and liberated Goa from the 450-year-old Portuguese domination on December 19, 1961. Subsequently, the first elections for the Goa Legislative Assembly were held in 1963.

Goa's Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said signs of the Portuguese regime should be wiped out as now the state has been liberated out of foreign domination for over a period of 60 years. A new beginning shall start.

The CM upheld the flag of the Maratha king, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and commemorated the incidents of stopping the destruction of temples in Goa during Portuguese rule.

It was Shivaji Maharaj who first put forth the idea of 'Swaraj' (self-rule) in the country.

It was the influence of the Maratha king that the Portuguese failed to do any kind of cultural destruction.

Chhatrapati Shivaji rebuilt the Saptakoteshwar Temple in North Goa and warned the Portuguese of the destruction of temples. The credit for protecting the Hindu culture in the State is attributed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his son Sambhaji Maharaj.

The centuries of European domination in the country robbed the country in almost all of the aspects. Re-constructing ourselves out of ruins is a signal of a bright future and Goa is on that trajectory itself.

The CM says that we are celebrating the 75th year of India's independence and hopes to see a 'Reformed Goa' when India would celebrate it's 100 years of Independence.

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Reference:

• economictimes.indiatimes.com