The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because He has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’……Isaaih 61: 1-3
These words had been written hundreds of years earlier and spoke of a new freedom that was coming in the future. When Jesus stood up to read, He was saying the future had arrived. Liberty would come through Him.
What is the freedom Jesus was talking about ……… It is the Spiritual freedom.
Today, many people are living in spiritual slavery without realizing it. They chase false gods of money, success, personal comfort and romantic love—only to realize they still have an emptiness that can’t be filled by any of those things.
The Old Testament of the Bible records how God’s people lost their physical freedom time and again as various empires overtook them. The same was true with us in Goa, we had lost our physical freedom to the Portuguese, who ruled over Goa for 450 long years, so what we achieved on 19th December 1961 is the physical freedom from the Portuguese Rule. Since liberation, the people of Goa have enjoyed the benefits of freedom and they have become the masters of their own destiny. They are living under the constitutional guarantee of justice, liberty and equality now.
History of Goa’s Struggle for freedom
Goa’s struggle for freedom is an unique experience not only in the history of the Indian National Movement, as it paved way for national integration, but also in the history of the world. The movement of Goans to liberate themselves from the clutches of Portugal’s dictatorial rule shattered the last remnants of European colonialism in India and at the same time heralded the freedom of African colonies such as Angola and Mocambique. Its significance can be perceived from the fact that it not only proved inspirational to the nationalist struggle in other Portuguese colonies but motivated the fight of Portuguese citizens to attain democratic rights and gave strength to the ushering of a democratic revolution in Portugal, which materialised on 25th April 1974.
The urge of freedom from colonial rule that was created in the hearts and minds of the Indians by the Indian National Movement finally and completely triumphed on 19th December 1961. When the Indian Government with its military action, ‘Operation Vijay’, liberated the territories of Goa, Daman and Diu that had been under the control of Portugal for nearly 451 years. This army action of the Indian military put an end to the last battle in the process of India’s decolonisation and strengthening the fight against the Portuguese colonialism in the world.
The army action of the Indian Government was prompted by the continuous and consistent struggle that the Goans launched to pronounce to the world their ardent desire to dismantle the artificial political barriers created by European colonial powers between Goa and the rest of India and to achieve the goal of political unification with the Indian Union.
Food for Thought
Are we truly liberated?
Significance of Liberation day
Significance of being liberated according to Jesus
How to live in Today” s world as Liberated Christians
Jesus, the liberating God of the chosen people comes to all who are in need. Jesus is revealed as the universal God of the needful. God offers to the oppressed and needy everywhere God’s particular freedom. God offers this particular freedom to all who are in need, without regard to their particularity — their race, sex, ethnic origin.
Thus we can see the great difference in what it is being liberated in Christ and what it is being liberated physically .Even though we have physical freedom, a thought that is Are we really free? We were liberated from the Portuguese Rule. But is the common man truly liberated? I don’t want to list out the many avenues by which he is not free. Each one of us is wise enough to think and act.
By Gladys Da Silva