Evágrio Fransisco Jorge (6 March 1925 – 20 August 1978) was an Indian freedom fighter and journalist.

Early life

Evágrio Fransisco Jorge was born on 6 March 1925 in Carmona,

Salcete Salcete or Salcette (Konkani: ''Saxtti''/''Xaxtti'') is a subdivision of the district of South Goa, in the state of Goa, situated by the west coast of India. The Sal River and its backwaters dominate the landscape of Salcete. Historically, ...

Portuguese Goa The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

, to Tito Manuel Jorge and Moi Sinha Rodrigues. He completed his 7th year of

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

education.

Goa liberation movement

When

Ram Manohar Lohia Ram Manohar Lohia ( 23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an Indian political activist of the Indian independence movement and a socialist politician. As a nationalist, he worked actively to protest against colonialism, raising awareness of th ...

visited Goa in June 1946, Jorge visited Lohia at the home of Julião Menezes and published the news of Lohia's arrival on the ''

O Heraldo ''O Heraldo'' is a century-old English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published in Panaji, the capital of the Indian state of Goa. History ''O Heraldo'' was established as the first daily Portuguese newspaper on 21 May 1900 by Aleixo ...

'' newspaper on 12 June. This triggered the civil disobedience movement that is today known as Goa Revolution Day. Later, Jorge went to visit Lohia in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, accompanied by

Purushottam Kakodkar Purushottam Kesava Kakodkar (; 18 May 1913 – 2 May 1998) was an Indian politician and social worker. He served as a Member of Parliament in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Role as a freedom fighter He took part in the Quit India Moveme ...

. While there, they got to know that the then

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

, was passing through the city. They thus met him and requested him for Goa's freedom. They then received encouragement from Nehru. In the 1940s, Jorge led a political party, ''Liga Regional'' (the Regional League). He was also one of founders of the National Congress (Goa) (NCG). He was elected as its Joint Secretary at the first meeting, held in

Londa, Karnataka Londa is a census town in Belagavi district in the Indian state of Karnataka.The town is on border with state of Goa. The town is surrounded by lush evergreen forests known as Sahayadri or Western ghats of India. Londa is situated at the border ...

on 18 August 1946. On 7 November 1946, he was arrested after he offered ''

satyagraha Satyāgraha (from ; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone who practises satyagraha is ...

'' at Cuncolim. He was released after being imprisoned and tortured for 45 days. After his release, he was given the responsibility of the

Belgaum Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

and

Khanapur Khanapur known as Khanapura is a panchayat town in Belagavi district, Karnataka, India. It is about 26 km from Belagavi, the administrative capital of the district. The Khanapur Municipal Council governs the town. Khanapur is the headquar ...

''satyagraha'' camps of the NCG. On 15 August 1947, he was arrested again to prevent him from organizing any protests on that day. His house was then raided and nationalist literature was seized. Following this, he was put on trial by the TMT for the publishing and distribution of anti- Portuguese flyers and articles. He was then sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment, along with having his political rights suspended for 15 years. In June 1957, he was part of a delegation of 11 Goans chosen for consultation by Prime Minister Nehru. Others included

Armando Menezes Armando Menezes (1902–1983) was an Indian civil servant, writer, academic and poet who wrote in English. Biography Armando Menezes was born on 11 May 1902 in São Matias, Divar, Goa to Luis Manuel de Menezes, a lawyer and Arminda Correia L ...

and his brother Nicolau Menezes, along with Luis Gracias, J. N. Heredia,

Gerald Pereira Gerald Pereira (20 September 1929 – 4 March 1976) was an Indian freedom fighter, author, lawyer and trade unionist from Goa. Active in the Goa liberation movement, he founded the first trade union in Goa. He is the author of the book, ''An O ...

Vishwanath Lawande Vishwanath Lawande (20 April 1923 – 15 September 1998) was an Indian freedom fighter and lawyer. He was a founder member of the Azad Gomantak Dal and played an important role in the Liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. He was fondly referre ...

Pundalik Gaitonde Pundalik Dattatreya Gaitonde (3 July 1913 – 13 November 1992) was a surgeon from Goa and an active participant in the Goa liberation movement. Along with Antonio Colaco, Gaitonde was nominated by the President of India to the 3rd Lok Sabha i ...

Rama Hegde Rama Krishna Hegde (29 April 1912 - ?) was an Indian freedom fighter and physician from Goa, India. Life Early life Rama Krishna Hegde was born on 29 April 1912 in Madgaon to Krishna Rama Hegde. He studied medicine at the Escola Médico-Cir� ...

Peter Alvares Peter Augustus Alvares (1908–1975) was an Indian politician. He was the first Member of Parliament from North Goa Lok Sabha constituency (then Panjim), after liberation of Goa from Portuguese rule in 1962. He served as president of All Indi ...

and

Career

As a writer and journalist, between 1942 and 1961, Jorge published about 16 flyers and books against the Portuguese government. In the 1940s, he worked for ''

oHeraldo ''O Heraldo'' is a century-old English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published in Panaji, the capital of the Indian state of Goa. History ''O Heraldo'' was established as the first daily Portuguese newspaper on 21 May 1900 by Aleixo C ...

''. Following his release from jail in the early 1950s, Jorge moved to

and began contributing to

T. B. Cunha Tristão de Bragança Cunha (; 2 April 1891 – 26 September 1958), better known as T. B. Cunha, was a Portuguese nationalist and anti-colonial activist. Referred to as the "Father of Goan nationalism", he was the organiser of the first moveme ...

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

periodical, ''Azad Goem'' (). In 1955, he joined the

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

(AIR) for Konkani and Portuguese. After resigning from AIR in 1970, he began editing and contributing to the Konkani daily newspaper, ''Uzvadd''. He later founded the ''Novem Uzvadd''.

Death

Jorge was killed in a freak accident in

Panaji Panaji (; , , )also known as Panjim, is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river est ...

on 20 August 1978 when a bus lost control and killed him.

Personal life

Jorge was married to Margarida and had two children, Subhas and Vijayalakshmi.

Views

In his 1942 pamphlet, ''A Reforma do Vestuário'', Jorge promoted ''

khadi Khadi (, ), derived from khaddar, is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi as Swadeshi movement, ''swadeshi (of homeland)'' for the freedom struggle of India and the term is used throughout the Indian sub ...

'' cloth. He lamented that both Hindus and Christians in Goa, under the Portuguese rule, wore "Western" clothes manufactured outside of India. He stated that the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in Goa was used by the Portuguese to impose "Western (occidentals) dressing and customs". Urging Hindus to turn back to their culture, he said,

Awards and accolades

In 1972, Jorge was awarded the Tamrapatra Award for freedom fighters by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. In 1984, he was posthumously honoured by the Government of Goa, Daman and Diu.

Works

Some of Jorge's works include: * ''A Reform do Vestuario'' (1942) * ''Uma decisso judicial'' (1943) * ''Vestuario and Santos ou Arruaceiros'' (1944) * ''Porque Ofereco Satyagraha'' (1946) * ''Portugezanchem Raj Mhollear Goenkaranchem Nisantonn'' (1947) * ''Goenchea Jivitacho Asro'' (1954) * ''Salazar Ani Goem'' * ''Goenche Utthau Ani Bonddam'' (1956) * ''Nehru Ani Goemand Lokmanya Tilak'' (1957) * ''Katolk Igorz Goench Sodvonnechi Chollvoll'' (1957) * ''Salazar’s rule in Portuguese and Goa Case'' (1959) * ''The Goa Case'' (1961) * ''Goemkarachem Desbhoxttepon'' (T B Cunha-chea pustoka onkar) (1961) * ''Os Bhrahamanes'' (1969) * ''Eka monxachem noxib'' (Solokov-achi novol kanni) (1968) * ''Nillea Dollean-chi Ostori'' (1969) * ''Karykha'' (Mikhali Alexeyev - chi novol kanni) (1974) * ''Ojeapam'' * ''Vizmitam Nuvem Gavant'' (1974) * ''Goa’s Awakening – Reminiscence of the 1946 Civil Disobedience Movement''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorge, Evágrio 1925 births 1978 deaths Journalists from Goa Goa liberation activists People from Portuguese India