Uprising

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 often overlooked chapter of Indian history. A few years after the country became independent, ordinary civilians rose up against the extortionist and cruel colonial stragglers entrenched in the villages of Dadra and Nagar Haveli—the Portuguese. With the new Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, unwilling to strain nascent diplomatic bonds, it was up to a few brave men and women to take matters into their own hands. The odds were not good: the Portuguese were armed to the teeth and outnumbered them heavily. It was an extraordinary coalition that took them on: Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi helped raise funds through a concert; volunteers from the Azad Gomantak Dal, the RSS and radical communists collaborated with the local tribal population to launch attacks in Silvassa, Naroli, Pipariya, Khanvel and other places in an effort to drive the Portuguese out once and for all. 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 history. An electrifying story emerges—the solidarity, resilience and fearlessness of a people who defy tyranny, and make history in the process.