Goa CM Pramod Sawant gives aid to slain martyr's wife
Chandigarh, September 28
Targeting the late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant today said that had the then government cared after freedom fighters fell to the Portuguese military bullets in 1955, the state wouldn’t have to wait long for freedom.
Goa was finally liberated on December 19, 1961, after the government’s military action under Operation Vijay.
Sawant was in Chandigarh today as he had come to meet Charanjit Kaur, wife of Karnail Singh Benipal who fell to bullets during a protest in Goa in 1955. Sawant told mediapersons that though India got Independence in 1947, Goa remained under Portugal till 1961. He said on August 15, 1955, the Goa Vimochan Sahayak Samiti (GVSS), a Pune-based organisation, organised a march where people hailing from different states entered Goa against the Portugal occupation. A young widow from Madhya Pradesh, Sahodradevi Rai, was holding the Indian Tricolour and leading the group of Satyagrahis along with others at Patradevi. As their group tried to enter Goa, she was shot at and got injured. “At this point, Karnail Singh Benipal of Isru village (Khanna) in Punjab came forward and challenged the police to shoot him instead of attacking women. He, too, was shot on the Goa border at Patradevi and became a martyr,” said Sawant. Benipal was just aged 25 then. “When I met Charanjit Kaur at Barola village (Ambala) today, she broke down, but was happy that someone from Goa had come to meet her,” he added. He presented a cheque for Rs 10 lakh to her and assured all possible help to her. Sawant announced that a road leading from Goa International Airport would be named after Shaheed Karnail Singh Benipal.
MLA Ambala, Aseem Goel, said Haryana CM had announced that the middle school at Barola village would be named after Benipal or his wife Charanjit Kaur. — TNS
Benipal protested Portuguese rule
Goa CM Pramod Sawant was in Chandigarh on Wednesday as he had come to meet Charanjit Kaur, wife of Karnail Singh Benipal, who fell to bullets during a protest against the Portuguese rule in Goa in 1955
