T. B. Cunha (English: TB Cunha; Born- 2 April, 1891, Goa, Died- 26 September, 1958) was a famous freedom fighter of Goa. He was such a person who sacrificed everything and played an important role in liberating Goa. Many freedom fighters like Dr. T. B. Cunha suffered immense hardships and got Goa independence in 1961. T. B. Cunha, the glorious son of modern India, is considered as the “Father of Goa”. He was a visionary nationalist freedom fighter.
Cunha was born on 2 April 1891 in a village called Chandaur in Goa. He received his early education from Panjim, but not satisfied with the education system there, Cunha went to Pondicherry. From there he passed his B.A. and then went to Paris. From Paris, Cunha received higher education in electrical engineering. There he worked in a private firm from 1916 to 1926.
Meanwhile, Dr. Cunha came in contact with famous thinkers like Romain Rolland. The Russian Revolution of 1917 also influenced T.B. Cunha’s thoughts. He started feeling that the imperialist control of Western countries should end. He wrote articles in French newspapers to make people aware of the exploitation being done by the British in India. Dr. Cunha is credited with getting the news of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which the British government had hidden from Western countries, published in European newspapers with full details.
Dr. Kunha came to India in the year 1926. By that time Salazar’s rule had been established in Portugal and the people of Goa were facing even more oppression. Dr. Kunha established the ‘Goa Congress Committee’ and affiliated it with the ‘Indian National Congress’. Thus the freedom struggle of Goa began. He wrote many booklets against the oppressive rule of Goa. When the British government wanted to prosecute him, Justice M.C. Chagla of Mumbai High Court proved Kunha innocent.
On 18 June 1946, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia’s public speech in Madgaon started the open struggle for Goa’s freedom from Portugal. On 24 July 1948, Dr. Kunha was arrested. He was tried in a military court and was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment and imprisoned in a fort in Portugal. Although he was released from prison during the general release in 1950, he could come to India only in 1953. As soon as he came to India, the ‘Goa Action Committee’ was formed in Mumbai. The result of its propaganda was that in 1954, the Portuguese rule ended in Dadra and Nagar Haveli districts.
Dr. T.B. Cunha was posthumously awarded a gold medal by the World Peace Council in its Stockholm convention in 1959.
Dr. T.B. Cunha, who continuously fought for the independence of Goa, died on September 26, 1958.
