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{{Short description|Portuguese Indian underground radio station (1955–1961)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = Voice of Freedom
| city = [[Portuguese Goa]] (unlicensed)
| country = [[Portuguese India]]
| area = [[Portuguese Goa]]
| frequency = {{Frequency|7.13|MHz}} (42.05 m)
| language = Portuguese, Konkani, Marathi, English
| format = News; [[Goan independence movement]]-related messaging
| airdate = 25 November 1955
| last_airdate = 19 December 1961
}}

'''Voice of Freedom''' ([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: ''Voz da Liberdade''; [[Konkani language|Konkani]]: ''Goenche Sadvonecho Awaz'') was an [[Underground radio|underground radio station]] that transmitted across [[Portuguese Goa]] from 1955 to 1961, advocating the cause of the [[Goan independence movement]]. The station broadcast a variety of programming in English, [[Konkani language|Konkani]], and in Portuguese, promoting Goan independence from Portuguese rule. Some of the broadcasters on the station included activists [[Nicolau Menezes]], [[Libia Lobo]] and [[Vaman Sardesai]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kale |first=Sharwari |date=2021-06-08 |title=The Voice Of Freedom- Goa's Underground Radio Station |url=https://homegrown.co.in/homegrown-explore/the-voice-of-freedom-goas-underground-radio-station |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=Homegrown |language=en |archive-date=2023-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221191315/https://homegrown.co.in/homegrown-explore/the-voice-of-freedom-goas-underground-radio-station |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Antao |first=Steve |date=2015-12-19 |title=RADIO - WOMAN'S VOICE OF FREEDOM |url=https://itsgoa.com/radio-womans-voice-freedom |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=ItsGoa |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221191316/https://itsgoa.com/radio-womans-voice-freedom |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=IANS |title='Voice of Freedom' and the battle for airwaves over Goa |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/india/voice-of-freedom-and-the-battle-for-airwaves-over-goa-1062255.html |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=Deccan Herald |language=en |archive-date=2023-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221191315/https://www.deccanherald.com/india/voice-of-freedom-and-the-battle-for-airwaves-over-goa-1062255.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== History ==
Voice of Freedom was established in November 1955 by a group of local activists, including [[Vaman Sardesai]], [[Libia Lobo]], and [[Nicolau Menezes]], who aimed to challenge [[Portuguese India|Portuguese rule in India]] and promote the idea of an independent [[Goa]]. Lobo and Sardesai were also among the station's announcers.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=2021-12-19 |title=Voice of freedom: From the jungles to the skies |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/voice-of-freedom-from-the-jungles-to-the-skies/articleshow/88368722.cms |access-date=2023-12-25 |issn=0971-8257 |archive-date=2023-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225100608/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/voice-of-freedom-from-the-jungles-to-the-skies/articleshow/88368722.cms |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=2017-08-15 |title=All you need to know about Voice of Freedom - Goa's underground radio station |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/all-you-need-to-know-about-voice-of-freedom-goas-underground-radio-station/articleshow/60037919.cms |access-date=2023-12-25 |issn=0013-0389 |archive-date=2020-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111212550/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/all-you-need-to-know-about-voice-of-freedom-goas-underground-radio-station/articleshow/60037919.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> To maintain secrecy, the station was also referred to as the 'Q station'.<ref name=":0" /> Operating from undisclosed locations, often in trucks and forests near [[Amboli, Sindhudurg|Amboli]] surrounding Goa, organizers maintained anonymity to safeguard against potential reprisals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ali |first=B. Sheikh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tCZuAAAAMAAJ&q=voice++of+freedom+radio+goa |title=Goa Wins Freedom: Reflections and Reminiscences |date=1986 |publisher=Goa University |isbn=978-81-85571-00-3 |language=en |access-date=2023-12-25 |archive-date=2023-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225201758/https://books.google.com/books?id=tCZuAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=voice++of+freedom+radio+goa&q=voice++of+freedom+radio+goa&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref> It is noted that while transmitting from these locations, the broadcasters often encountered venomous snakes, [[Leech|leeches]], and other wildlife.<ref name=":3" /> Broadcast locations included areas near the present-day Maharashtra border near [[Sawantwadi]] and another near the [[Karnataka]] border near [[Castle Rock, Karnataka|Castle Rock]], and later near [[Belgaum]]. The Portuguese government attempted to block signals using jammers and deployed local smugglers to track down the broadcasting setup.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Salgaonkar |first=Seema P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zkvaAAAAMAAJ&q=Libia+Lobo |title=Women, Political Power, and the State |date=2006 |publisher=Abhijeet Publications |isbn=978-81-88683-95-6 |language=en |access-date=2023-12-25 |archive-date=2024-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102155058/https://books.google.com/books?id=zkvaAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=Libia+Lobo&q=Libia+Lobo&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":4" />

The station primarily used shortwave radio frequencies, allowing it to reach a broad audience, including remote areas of Goa and international sympathizers of the Goan independence cause. Broadcasts included news updates, political commentaries, discussions on the struggle for independence, and patriotic songs.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The station played an important role in shaping public opinion against Portuguese rule, countering the official news broadcasts at a time when the major newspapers were heavily censored. Content also included updates on the [[Indian independence movement]], discussions on the global context of [[decolonization]], and calls for the Goans to join the struggle for their freedom.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> Broadcasts also covered updates on anti-colonial movements in Asia and Africa.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Desai |first=Anita A. Raut |date=2003 |title=Voices in the liberation struggle the case of goa 1947 6 |url=https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/35649/11/11_chapter%206.pdf |website=Goa University}}</ref> In 1956, Indian activist [[Vinoba Bhave]] addressed the Goan population on the station.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Mahotsav |first=Amrit |title=A Clandestine Radio Called "Voice of Freedom" |url=https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/district-reopsitory-detail.htm?21448 |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Ministry of Culture, Government of India |language=English |archive-date=2024-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102155005/https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/district-reopsitory-detail.htm?21448 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0" />

The station ceased operations with its final broadcast on December 19, 1961 following India's [[annexation of Goa]] in a military campaign called [[Operation Vijay (1961)|Operation Vijay]] that ended Portuguese rule in Goa.<ref name=":1" /> Prior to the operation, the station carried a message from the Indian defence ministry to the Portuguese [[governor-general]] requesting the surrender of Portuguese troops.<ref name=":6" /> In one of its last broadcasts after the liberation of Goa, the station's broadcasters flew in an airplane, sending out messages and dropping flyers to mark the event.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Antao |first=Steve |date=2015-12-19 |title=RADIO - WOMAN'S VOICE OF FREEDOM |url=https://itsgoa.com/radio-womans-voice-freedom |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=ItsGoa |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221191318/https://itsgoa.com/radio-womans-voice-freedom |url-status=live }}</ref> A Portuguese government report on the station's operations was later discovered. [[Major general|Major]] Filipe de Barros Rodrigues of the [[Portuguese Army|Portuguese army]] wrote that the station had "assumed the command of the entire propaganda and maintained its aggressiveness and its militancy. [The station] threatens, criticises, persuades, explains, changes colours, alters perspectives but, in everything it says, it carries a sharp stiletto. [It was] the only voice which was hurting us [the Portuguese] at close range."<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service - Witness History, Goan Independence |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02dyyyj |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=BBC |language=en-GB |archive-date=2023-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225202444/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02dyyyj |url-status=live }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* {{YouTube|id=c9dowawE9ZI|title=The Underground Voice that Fought for Goa}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02dyyyj Witness History - Goan Independence interview with Libia Lobo] on [[BBC World Service]]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1955]]
[[Category:Independence movements]]
[[Category:Pirate radio stations]]
[[Category:Amateur radio in India]]
[[Category:Radio stations disestablished in 1961]]

Voice of Freedom (radio station) - Revision history

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