Uprising: The Liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli

In 1954, in the small town of Silvassa, wind blows through desolate streets. Doors are bolted for the first time, windows shuttered. The town is silent, except for the soft, persistent patter of August rain. The only movement is that of a group of outsiders, gathering stealthily around the barricaded Silvassa police post, their faces grim. A man raises his hand to signal the others—it is time.

Uprising chronicles a remarkable, yet overlooked chapter of Indian independence. A few years after the country was formally independent, ordinary Indian civilians rose up against the colonial stragglers entrenched in the villages of Dadra and Nagar Haveli—the Portuguese. With Nehru’s characteristic refusal to test nascent diplomatic bonds, it’s a few brave men and women who take matters into their own hands. It isn’t easy—the Portuguese are armed to the teeth, outnumber them heavily and have no patience for Gandhian strategies of peaceful resistance.

But for the people who put their lives on hold to become part of this extraordinary struggle, it’s not about what’s easy or hard. It’s about doing what’s right. And in this case, that means ousting the foreigners lingering in their land—outsiders who continue to extort hapless locals, and are untouchable despite imposing punishing oppression.

Through interviews with descendants of the participants (and a handful of participants themselves), newspaper archival records, letters and diary entries, Neelesh Kulkarni painstakingly puts together the pieces of this little-known story. A story of the solidarity, resilience and fearlessness; a testament of people who defy tyranny—and make history in the process.