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j^=iSpecial Correspondent
"TNDIA should liberate Goa within
■*- six months by the use of force if
necessary," Bwana Hlomulo
Gwambe, President of the National
Democratic Union of Mozambique,
(UDENAMO) told a seminar on
Portuguese colonies in New Delhi
during October 1961.
"Indian action in Goa would
encourage African freedom fighters
to throw off Portuguese rule in their
own states."
Barely two months after this
exhortation the Government of India
liberated Goa, Diu and Daman by
force of arms.
The action of the Government of
India is completely in consonance
with the philosophy of Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru who holds that if
violence is bad slavery is worse.
He could no longer tolerate the continued enslavement of his compatriots by the Portuguese.
Dictator Salazar today licks his
wounds over the routing of the
Portuguese thugs and gangsters in
India.
Under the Portuguese-British
Treaty of 1661 the British Government undertook "to defend and
protect all conquests or colonies
belonging to the crown of Portugal
against all enemies."
That treaty has since been reinforced by the creation of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(NATO) a body of the "free" world
dedicated to the perpetuation of
colonialism and imperialism by force
of arms.
Because of the knowledge that
their policies have the blessings of
"respectable" colonialist powers the
Portuguese have stepped up their
fascist terrorism and brutality in their
so-called "overseas provinces" and
Mozambique is beginning to feel the
weight of the jackboot of their
armed gangsters and thugs.
In July 1961, the 2,037 ton
Portuguese liner "still shave"  550
passengers aboard went a ground at
the mouth of the River Tinde, in
Mozambique. These included 50
Portuguese gangster leaders and 500
African armed thugs.
At the end of July, 1,400 Portuguese armed thugs arrived by sea
in Lourenco and a week earlier
2,000 other armed thugs had arrived.
By this time 20,000 Portuguese
terrorists were already in Mozambique.
In September 1961, the new 19,000
ton Portuguese liner Principe Rer-
feito arrived in Lourenco Marques
with 1,000 Portuguese terrorists
aboard. These were to be deployed
in Northern Mozambique since the
southern part is already well protected
by   Verwoerd's   armed   gangsters.
In November 1961, a contingent of
1,400 Portuguese armed thugs left
Lisbon for Mozambique on the
Portuguese steamer "Imperio".—
In December 1961, 1,300 more
armed thugs arrived in Lourenco
Marques.
All these armed thugs are being
brought in to step up the terrorist
agression against the African masses
whose only crime is that they seek to
throw the Portuguese colonialist
yoke.
"Your real battle," stated leaflets
distributed secretly among the armed
thugs by the Mozambique Democratic Movement, a liberal multi-racial
body in November 1961, "is against
the traitor and cynic Salazar and his
government of gangsters. Portuguese
can only be truly free and progressive
when it no longer enslaves others."
These armed thugs have certainly
not been on a Sunday school picnic
in Mozambique.
In a statement smuggled out of
terrorist — besieged Mozambique in
April 1961, UDENAMO called out:
"We call the special attention of
radio and telegraph stations all over
the world to transmit urgently the
following message specially addressed
to  the  General  Assembly  of the
United Nations:
"The African population of
Mozambique is in a desperate situation. Police and Administrators are
arresting daily hundreds of Africans
and mixed persons (coloured in
Lourenco Marques, Beira, Nampula,
Quelimane, and Villages in the
interior.
"We confirm the massacres of
African labourers by Portuguese
troops last month on cotton, sisal
and sugar plantations at Mueda
Vila, Cabral, Milange and Xinavane.
"We ask for the immediate intervention of United Nations troops to
prevent the operation of terrorist
acts similar to those in Angola or
Kenya."
Recently 7 Africans died instantly
and 92 were taken to the Beira hospital after drinking Portuguese
poisoned beer which is being sold to
African sonly.
As far back as 1952, James
Mtemaganda, an African freedom
fighter in Mozambique, was an
eye-witness to the callous murder of
five African youth aged 17 and
18 years. Eggs were placed on the
heads of these youth and Portuguese
terrorists aimed and shot at the eggs—
and shot the youth dead. And none
of these were ever brought to justice.
Many a grim story is being told
about Portuguese atrocities perpetrated against the African people
especially against the African freedom fighters. If there was a grain
of truth in these ghastly tales the
Portuguese fascists would willingly
agree to the appointment of an
international commission of enquiry
to investigate these.
One meets in the flesh many an
African freedom fighter who testifies to be eye-witness of these horrible
atrocities. There are stories in current
circulation of freedom fighters being ,
buried alive at the notorious Nyan-
gawo upon the island of Bazaruto
near Beira. There are stories of
freedom fighters dropped from aeroplanes into vast forests or into the
sea. Stories of hungry political
prisoners being offered nothing but
poisoned food "sustenance".
Portuguese terrorists are going all
out to intensify oppressive measures
against the African people of
Mozambique.
According to a statement released
30   O   VOICE OF AFRICA