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'The core group from Pune, which bought arms, trained people, carried out intelligence gathering and participated in all the stages of the battle, consisted of RSS volunteers.'
'The Pune group raised resources with the help of three stalwarts from the film industry.'
The stalwarts were Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi and C Ramchandra.'
Neelesh Kulkarni is an entrepreneur, poet, theatre actor, voiceover artist, and a cricket commentator. He is the author of Uprising The Liberation Of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and In The Footsteps Of Rama: Travels with the Ramayana.
Neelesh Kulkarni explains to Rediff.com Senior Contributor Sunil Gatade how the only armed struggle in India's freedom movement succeeded.
What made you write about this almost forgotten chapter of the Indian freedom struggle?
Like most of us, I had no idea about the battle waged by a few brave hearts, which resulted in the throwing out of the Portuguese from Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Also, I did not know that this battle in 1954 was the catalyst for a series of events which finally led to the liberation of Goa, Daman and Diu in 1961.
I just happened to meet Mr Arvind Manolkar, one of the volunteers who fought in the battle on a train, and as we talked, I discovered some facets of this story.
They were so fascinating that I decided then and there that this just had to be a book as the battle deserved much more attention than it had got.
From there began a two-year journey of travelling to the locations, meeting other participants in the battles or their children, piecing together scraps of information received from them and cross-checking the gamut of information to shape the book.
What prevented the then government from acting against the Portuguese? As a writer and researcher, do you think the delay was inevitable as the issue was complex?
The issue was complex, and the government could not have risked action.
The complication was that the Portuguese parliament had passed a resolution defining Portugal as a multi-locational country.
This effectively meant that all Portuguese colonies were described not as colonies but as units of Portugal itself.
Portugal was a member of NATO, and if a foreign power attacked any part of Portugal, NATO would be treaty-bound to retaliate.
This was a risk that the government could not have taken, hence, there was reluctance to use force to liberate the territories.
From a unique travelogue to an unknown part of the freedom struggle, how did you handle such a diverse range?
Each was a powerful story waiting to be told. Both required intense research at the desk and in the field and needed interaction with diverse groups of people, all of which I was comfortable doing.
The difference was that in the travelogue's case, the travel's direction determined the structure; in this case, the entire structure had to be created linearly from various sources, which were often conflicting.
Separating the wheat from the chaff was tough, but research and detailed cross-checking took care of that.
In the case of Uprising, the main challenge was to respect each fact in the story and yet make the book readable. Thanks to my editors, I have been able to do that.
Who are the artistes from the film industry who helped in mobilising resources for this national cause?
The Pune group raised resources with the help of three stalwarts from the film industry who performed at a concert in Pune and did not charge anything, to the extent that they even brought their tickets to travel between Mumbai and Pune.
The group used the funds generated from ticket sales for the mission. The stalwarts who helped were Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi and C Ramchandra.
The interface with them was Sudhir Phadke, himself later a renowned music director, who was then just starting off in the industry and was part of the core group from Pune.
There is a belief that only people connected with the RSS took part in the uprising. How correct is this?
The core group from Pune, which bought arms, trained people, carried out intelligence gathering and participated in all the stages of the battle, consisted of RSS volunteers.
Also, the hundred-odd volunteers who rushed at a day's notice to Silvassa for the frontal attack were all RSS volunteers.
They fought under the banner of the Azad Gomantak Dal, whose volunteers were equal participants in the battle and were a part of the action from day one.
Its leaders were also involved in planning and setting up local support systems, and its president took over as administrator after the liberation of Silvassa.
Parallel to them, the tribals, organised under the banner of the Communist party, also liberated many villages.
The tribals led by Jetruben Ghoom also rallied to help the Dal volunteers evict the Portuguese from Khanvel, where they had taken their last stand.
The joint effort of RSS volunteers, the Azad Gomantak Dal and the local tribals ensured this great victory.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com