The Annexation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli was the conflict in which the territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli passed from Portuguese rule to independent rule, with Indian allegiance, in 1954.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli were small undefended Portuguese overseas territories, part of Portuguese India since 1779. The territories were enclaves, without any access to the sea, administered by the Portuguese Governor of the district of Damão.
After India attained independence in 1947, some residents, with the help of volunteers from organizations such as the United Front of Goans (UFG), the National Movement Liberation Organization (NMLO), the Goa People's Party (affiliated to Communist ideology), the Communist Party of India as well as nationalist organizations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Azad Gomantak Dal (AGD) occupied Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1954 and displaced Portuguese rule. The territories were subsequently merged into the Republic of India in 1961.
Background
After Indian independence in 1947, pro-India activists in the Portuguese Indian provinces, as well as Indians from other places, proposed removing Portuguese control of Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and integrating them with India. This was in line with the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, who had, before India's independence, affirmed that "Goa cannot be allowed to exist as a separate entity in opposition to the laws of the free State [of India]".
Appasaheb Karmalkar, a bank employee with the Goa government took the reins of the National Liberation Movement Organization (NLMO) for the control of Portuguese-ruled Indian territories. The Goa People's Party and the then- Communist Party of India has been arming and mobilizing Warli Adivasis in the neighboring districts since the mid-40's. Com L.B. Dhangar, Roopji Kadu and 'Godutai' Godavari Parulekar led the Warli communists during the Dadra Nagar Haveli struggle against Portuguese colonialism, around the slogan of 'Land to the tiller'!
Simultaneously the Azad Gomantak Dal (AGD), led by Vishwanath Lavande, Dattatreya Deshpande, Prabhakar Sinari and Gole, along with volunteers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh led by Raja Wakankar and Nana Kajrekar had been planning an armed assault on Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Wakankar and Kajrekar visited the area around Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman several times in 1953 to study the topography and to get acquainted with workers and leaders who were agitating for the merger of the Portuguese territory with India.
The National Movement Organisation (NMO), Azad Gomantak Dal (AGD) and RSS agreed to form a United Front for liberation of D & N, in April 1954. Raja Wakankar and Nana Kajrekar of RSS reported that Lavachha, a village in Union of India, which was situated in between Dadra And Nagar Haveli, which was separated from each other by 4 km belt of land, was the most suitable place for liberation operation
In April 1954 the NLMO, AGD and RSS agreed to form a United Front for invasion of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. At a meeting in Elphinstone garden, an armed assault was planned. Independently, another organization, United Front of Goans (UFG), also pursued similar plans.
On 21 July 1954, the Communist Party of India forced the Portuguese to retreat from Dadra, a small landlocked territory bordering Nagar Haveli under leaders like Francis Mascarenhas, Narayan Palekar, Parulekar, Vaz, Rodriguez, Cunha.
J.D. Nagarwala, DIG of the Special Reserve Police, which had been deployed along the territory, had been sympathetic with the separatists. He had himself visited the area often and advised the separatists on the next moves.
The Portuguese situation
The situation all around Dadra and Nagar Haveli was controlled by Special Reserve Police (SRP) of the Government of India. Mr. J. D. Nagarwala DIG was in overall control of SRP with the purpose of checking and preventing the infiltration of military personnel and material from Goa to Nagar Aveli, via Damão and Dadra. The SRP also controlled the entry of civilians, to and from the Portuguese areas, by issuing permits, to stop the possibility of infiltration of undesirable persons, like workers and leaders of Communist Party. The Portuguese Chief of Police at Silvassa, Señ. Falcão, had a total Police force of 329 constables – out of which, 3 were at Dadra and 9 were at Naroly.
Dadra was surrounded from all sides by Indian territory and Naroly would get isolated by River Daman-Ganga during the Monsoon. So, it was decided, by the separatists, to take over Dadra and Naroly during Monsoon, in the month of July. And the takeover of Silvassa would be worked out after occupying Dadra and Naroly.