Hearth Fires

Portugal's Salazar calls his country's three little colonies on the west coast of India "a small hearth of the spirit of the West in the East." Last week the hearth was flaring up dangerously. In the village of Dadra, ten miles southeast of the town of Damao, Policeman A. P. Rozaerio was addressing 150 restive villagers on their duty to defend Portuguese sovereignty. Suddenly, a voice from the edge of the crowd shouted a demand that Rozaerio surrender the village to India. Rozaerio, aware that he had a fight on his hands, seized his rifle and began spraying bullets into the lingering darkness. He had not gotten far when villagers, who had been waiting beneath a nearby banyan tree, surrounded him. One stunned him with a stick from behind, another stabbed him to death, and Dadra was lost by Portugal. Within a few days, Indian nationalists gained control of six more villages in the Portuguese district of Damao, 100 miles north of Bombay.

Throughout the 1,537 square miles of territory in India, most of which Portugal has held since 1510, more trouble was on the way. India's Prime Minister Nehru has proclaimed for all to hear that French and Portuguese footholds in India can "no longer be tolerated," but carefully disclaims any government hand in the "spontaneous" liberation movements.

Portugal doesn't believe him for a minute. Last week Portugal expelled the Indian consul-general from beautiful Goa, the heart of Portuguese India. India retaliated, expelling Portugal's envoys in Bombay, where demonstrators are freely proclaiming their intention to invade Goa on Aug. 15. India's Independence Day.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.