Vaman Sardesai

Vaman Balkrishna Naique Prataprao Sardesai (5 May 1923 – 6 May 1994) was an Indian poet, freedom fighter and diplomat from Goa. Along with Libia Lobo Sardesai, whom he later married, he ran an underground radio station, Voice of Freedom, that transmitted across Portuguese Goa from 1955 to 1961, advocating the cause of the Goan independence movement. Following the Liberation of Goa, he became the second editor of Goa Today magazine, and went on to become an IAS officer, serving as the Indian Ambassador to Angola. In 1992, he was awarded the Padma Shri. He has also been the co-convenor of INTACH.

Early life (1923–1954)
Vaman Sardesai was born to Bhalchandra Desai on 5 May 1923 in the village of Vadi, Ponda taluka, Goa. Sardesai was a student of medicine at Escola Médica Cirúrgica de Goa when he was arrested in 1947 for distributing "anti-colonial literature". He was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment by the Portuguese Military Tribunal. Following his release, he moved to Wardha and Gandhi's Sevagram ashram. He then joined the External Services Division at All India Radio, Bombay. As part of this, he created programmes to spread awareness about "the problem of Goa" to other countries. In this period, he was a regular contributor of Konkani poems to Gandhi's fortnightly publication Mirg, writing under the pseudonym of "Abhijeet".

Voice of Freedom (1955–1961)
In 1954–55, the Portuguese attacked and killed several Satyagrahis who had peacefully entered the Goan borders, demanding the end of colonial rule in Goa. Following this, India closed its borders with Goa, imposing an economic blockade, thus reducing free movement and trade. Sardesai, Libia Lobo and Nicolau Menezes, a Goan freedom fighter who had been living in hiding in Bombay, came together to form a team. Using two wireless radio sets, which were confiscated the Portuguese, were converted into a radio transmitter. This grew to be the Voice of Freedom radio station, through which Sardesai, Lobo and Menezes would transmit news and important information to Goans.

They initially lived in the jungles of Amboli Ghat, from Goa, transmitting an hour-long programme. After Menezes and his wife left, Sardesai and Lobo shifted to Castle Rock, Karnataka ( from Goa).

In the days preceding Operation Vijay (1961), Sardesai and Lobo were contacted by the Indian defence forces. On December 17, 1961, the station transmitted a direct message from then Defence Minister of India, V. K. Krishna Menon, requesting the Portuguese Governor General to surrender. Following the success of Operation Vijay, Sardesai and Lobo boarded an Indian Air Force plane with a radio and loudspeaker attached to it, flying over Goa and dropping leaflets and announcing the freedom of Goa.

Post Liberation (1961 onwards)
Sardesai and Lobo got married on 19 December 1964, the third anniversary of the Liberation of Goa. Sardesai became the second editor of Goa Today magazine, after which he went on to become an Indian Administrative Service officer, serving as the Indian Ambassador to Angola from 1988 to 1991. He was the co-convenor of INTACH and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1992.