It is entirely possible,natural ,credible & explainable that the Instrument of
Offer to Surrender signed by General Vassalo, Governor-General of Goa,followed
by the Acceptance of the Offer to Surrender signed by Brig.Dhillon, and the
final Instrument of Surrender signed by General Vassalo for Portuguese Forces
and Major General Candeth for the Indian Armed Forces would not be in the
possession of the Govt. of Goa, since Goa then in 1961 was not a State of the
Indian Union. It appears logical that these Instruments would have been in in
the possession of the Indian Army or now be with the National Archives or the
Ministry of Defence under the Union Govt. of India.
A number of old Officers who have been Members/Honorary Members of the Station
Signal Officers Mess at Altinho, Panaji, Goa, next to the Bishops Palace would
easily recollect that the said Instruments/Documents were displayed just
inside the Main Entrance in the said Officers Mess ,neatly and carefully framed
in a glass "cage".Next to the said documents was also a hand written letter
from the then Prime Minister Shri. Jawaharlal Nehru to General Candeth,
congratulating Gen.Candeth and all men under his command for liberating Goa in
a swift, humane manner. Similarly the Portuguese Flag which was lowered from
the Headquarters of the then Portuguese Military Junta (which is now the said
Officers Mess) was displayed in a glass"cage' in the Anteroom of the Officers
Mess.
Recently when I visited the said Officers Mess , the said Instruments just
inside the Main Entrance were found to be facsimiles of the Originals, whilst
the Portuguese Flag earlier displayed in the Anteroom was not found displayed.
Knowing that the Station Officers Mess was substantially renovated for the
Centenary Signal Regiment celebrations ,could it be probable that these
invaluable items of our National History have been moved to the National
Archives? A simple RTI query with the National Archives and the Ministry of
Defence should be able to shed further light.
Regards,
Gerry
