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Lok Sabha elections: Remembering Peter Alvares, Goa’s first member of Parliament

Apr 28, 2024 04:31 PM IST

As Goa votes on May 7, old timers remember Peter Alvares, the man who played a key role in Goa’s liberation and later elected as its first MP.

Station Diary

Sunday the 4th March 1956

A view of the old Parliament building.
A view of the old Parliament building.

12-20 p.m.

Meeting at Jinnah Hall.

P.C. No. 275/C called at the Police Station and reported that there was a meeting of National Congress, Goa, in Jinnah Hall from 10-30 a.m. on Rajbundi. It was presided over by Shri Nausher Bharucha and Madhu Dandwate, Mahashabde, Peter Alvares, were present. There was a crowd of 400 persons in the meeting. The meeting was over at 12-00 noon peacefully.

(Signed) M. D. Framroze,

Inspector of Police,

Lamington Road Police Station.

Meeting Report

Bombay, 30th April 1957.

29 April 1957,9-00 to 10-30 p.m.

Amar Hind Mandal’s open ground.

Goa Darshan. 500 persons.

Shri Peter Alvares, speaking on the subject, gave the history of Goans’ freedom struggle from foreign domination and said that it was wrong to say that the Indian War of Independence was first started in 1857. It was started even before 1857 in Goa when the Goans started rebellions against Portuguese rule. In 1913 there was another upheaval in Goa, but the Portuguese crushed it with the help of some native powers. In 1934 the National Congress (Goa) was formed as the Indian National Congress at its session in Bombay decided to concentrate on the freedom movement against the British power only, as a consequence of which the Goa Congress Committee was disbanded and the National Congress (Goa) was formed.

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Before Peter James Duarte Qart Alvares (1908-1975) took oath as the first Member of Parliament from Goa in 1963, he had actively participated in India’s freedom struggle. His tryst with politics began in 1938 during the Civil Disobedience Movement, and he was jailed from August 1942 to April 1944. After his release, he joined the Socialist Party and became Secretary of the Bombay chapter. He often attended the Goa National Congress’ sessions in Bombay and Pune and voiced his firm belief that Goa was an integral part of India and should be liberated from Portuguese rule.

Alvarese was also the founder of then G.I.P. Railway Panchayat (later renamed National Railway Mazdoor Union) and a number of other Unions of Indian Railways; was elected Assistant General Secretary of the All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) in its Nagpur Convention in 1946 and thereafter was elected its President. He led the AIRF and wrote frequently on economic issues and contributed to Janata, the Socialist weekly of Bombay.

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In 1949, he became the first trade union leader to be elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly.

In 1954, Alvares, then President of the National Congress (Goa), launched a drive for enlisting volunteers for Goa liberation satyagraha and organised an underground movement on Goa’s borders. He led a batch of Satyagrahis who protested at Castlerock on January 26, 1955, and later galvanised the masses and drew about 5,000 Satyagrahis from all over the country to participate in the Satyagraha on August 15, 1955. The protest failed, but it did not deter Alvares. A Catholic, Alvares would often dress as a Hindu when visiting the homes of local Hindus to enlist them in Goa’s liberation movement. Aware of these activities, the Portuguese police chargesheeted and convicted him in absentia for 18 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI).

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After liberation in 1961, the first election in Goa was held in December 1963, when both Lok Sabha seats were won by Maharashtravadi Gomantak party (MGP) led by then chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar. Peter Alvares, a candidate of Praja Socialist Party Worker supported by MGP in Panaji Parliamentary Constituency defeated Surlakar of United Goans Party by securing 67,275 votes against 36,550 votes polled by his opponent. Alvares garnered 52.80% of the votes.

During his stint as a Lok Sabha member, Alvares raised various questions and vociferously pleaded for ‘investment incentives as well as development in technology’ and talked of how big companies like ESSO, Union Carbide, ITI and Firestone that were already in India “want to see the investment climate develop. They have been here for a number of years and they would like to see India develop quickly, and they are interested in seeing if there is some way of moving ahead more quickly”.

Later, inspired by Jaiprakash Narayan's Janata movement, Alvares, despite his failing health. worked tirelessly in Bihar for the freedom of democracy. He died on May 6, 1975 and was honoured posthumously by the Government of Goa, Daman and Diu on June 18, 1984.

(Station Diary; Meeting Report Source: Goa Freedom Struggle Vis-a-v/s Maharashtra, 1946 - 1960-1961, Edited by: Dr. B. G. Kunte, Government of Maharashtra, Mumbai,(Collected from Maharashtra Government Records)).

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