DOCTOR OSCAR REBELLO! GOA NEEDS YOU by Nisser Dias

Last week the people of Goa or rather the niz Goenkar woke up to a rude shock, no it was not a dream; infact I pinched myself to make sure that I was not dreaming while reading the morning newspaper. The simple caption said, Dr. Oscar Rebello resigns from Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA), it was a jolt to me even though I had expected it long time back and I was gasping for breath.
Then the stark reality dawned upon me that the few publicity hungry members in the GBA had finally managed to hound the charismatic Goan leader out of the umbrella organization that was trying to save whatever remains of Goa from our greedy politicians and self centered builders.
Dr. Oscar has become a household name in Goa for his dedicated struggle and fiery speeches against the draconian Regional Plan 2011, which finally forced the government to withdraw it. He is known as the only person in the GBA besides Patricia Pinto who took on the might of politicians, builders and others who sought to benefit from the RP 2011. His charisma, oratory skills, character and down to earth attitude endeared him to the masses as a genuine Goan, who at any cost would not dash the hopes and aspirations of like-minded Goans. He connected with the masses with such magnetism that his call for a mass movement against the rape of Goa would never go unheard or ignored. Dr. Oscar had struck a chord in the hearts of the Goan masses from all walks of life. During his public speeches, he spoke to everybody present; he felt the pulse and heart beats of Goans and translated them into his words. And the people could feel that his words were not just promises, but he meant what he said. Such was his appeal and the people of Goa saw a genuine leader in Dr. Oscar Rebello.
Undoubtedly, some the publicity hawks in the GBA sensed that this true Goan was stealing the show from under the feet. I call it a show because; for those particular lot in the Abhiyan, it is just another agitation but for Dr. Oscar it is a cause.
For him it is a cause because he tried to find a solution to it and not only agitate for the sake of agitation. For those some it was, “let the mess continue”. It was here that the leadership qualities of Dr. Oscar came to the fore, of course in a short span; his oratory skills had become legendary as he spoke from his heart. Like an old saying goes, ‘Deeds speak louder then words’ but in Dr. Oscar’s case he deftly showed that his words and deeds were attuned to each other and that showed the character, quality and calibre of the man.
The comment ‘let the mess continue’ indicated the thought process of publicity mongers in the GBA, I can point out lots more but I prefer to give them the leeway as in their own sense and mind tried to make GBA dynamic.
But what I will not accept is that after all these years Dr. Oscar Rebello was lashed out at, even to the extent of one member started using the print media to tarnish Dr. Rebello’s image. Of course initially they tried to move him out by trying to convince him to contest election, but when he rejected the proposal, they had no other option but to initiate other methods.
And he bore it all for years showing high tolerance level, for the love of Goa and Goans, but when this same group started spreading canards about Dr. Oscar integrity, honesty and uprightness, he rightly decided to call it quits.
The field is now open for his detractors to match his skills, none will come up to his knee levels, because Dr. Oscar had put his soul and heart into saving Goa. Those running the show now are riding on his wave trying to gain publicity. All those who had sincerely worked to expose the evil designs behind draconian Regional Plan 2011 and took the fight to the government have since been silenced though they are still with the Abhiyan, but the pompous lot is now running the show.
Of course I also say that it is not the end of the road for the activists trying in their own way to save Goa and its ethos, yes, we should also not move under his shadow inordinately nor can we depend upon him alone to lead the agitation on and on; but at this juncture when the land in the Goa has become cynosure of all eyes we cannot afford to lose or rather chuck Dr. Oscar Rebello aside because he led by examples and showed the way to carry out a fight. We should not forget that he made the chief minister of the state to travel 35 kilometers to meet the activists and that too when other leaders tried to unsuccessfully convince the CM to meet them. As of now, has any of the office bearers of GBA the clout to make the CM of the state travel almost 50 kilometers to hear their grievances, I do not think so. Dr. Oscar could do it because he commanded respect and more importantly the fear that this man could mobilize masses.
Yes the office bearers have belatedly urged him to consider his resignation, but the same request was not made when he quit as the convener. I dare challenge those ruling the roost in the GBA today, to display the vibrancy Abhiyan exuded with Dr. Oscar as its convener, none have it. For GBA to regain its radiance again it needs Dr. Oscar Rebello to be at the helm of affairs and not just a member and if this is offered to our beloved, fearless leader he should not reconsider it, but morally accept it and lead the Goan masses in their struggle to save Goa’s hills, fields, the coastline along with Goan ethos. Yes, Dr. Oscar Rebello, Goa needs you.

13 comments:

Shubash Lotlikar Panjim said...

I have heard a lot about Dr Oscar Rebello from my colleagues in Goa, and understood him to be a charismatic leader and good spokes person. Goa needs strong and honest leaders would Dr Rebello lead Goans to a better future? Or shall we say please lead us to the promised land. Goa needs people of his caliber.   

John Da Silva Collaco USA said...

It is a shame that a organization like GBA considered to be
made up of intellectuals,honest and well meaning Goans has fallen through the
cracks.
The present GBA leaders, without mincing words and clear crystal clarity need
to explain to the Goan public at large, why Dr. Oscar had to take the
inevitable step of resigning from the GBA.
If Goa has any tears left cry them now. We, particularly the educated group of Goans
cannot stand united  of a just and genuine cause for the preservation and
glory of Goa. Patricia Pinto et all have a lot of explanation to do. I call upon Dr. Rebello to clarify why and what led to his resignation.

God save Goa!!

Diogo Fichardo said...

John Buddy you are right is saying "We educated cannot cannot stand united for Goa". Our ancestors had less or no education at all, but unity was their strongest point. Village after Village were kept intact and unspoiled. In today's Goa the educated have mingled with the corrupt and taken Goa down to its Knees. It is only a matter of the final nail in the coffin.

Tony said...

The Owner of DB Realty in Taleigao is cooling his heels behind bars. He was out to push a lot of Black Money of 2G scam into Goa with much more Mega Projects in Goa. I am talking about the most destructive project in Goa, Aldeia de Goa. It almost finished all the Taleigao Mangroves and what was a lustrous hill full of flora and fauna  is eaten up by this massive project. It has changed the look of the hiss out there. GBA projected the destruction which at least saved the remaining.

Gobor said...

yeah. You need to heal some real sick minds.

Mario said...

Dr.Oscar is shit...Nasser ....are you short memory person?Isn't this is the same Oscar who started praising corrupt and criminal congress Govt. particularly criminal like Digambar Kamat soon after it release manipulated and suspicious Regional plan for two Talukas?For your kind information Dr.Oscar joined GBA to save his huge property from land sharks.Leaders are not the one who fight for just one issue due to their selfish interest but are those who are fighting for justice who effect Society at large.Think twice before praising lamdo of politicians.

Mario said...

Nasser....Goa donot need mixed breed like Dr.Oscar  who once told Goan working abroad to shut their mouth...who were writing against the evil prevailing in Goa as well protesting against hidden agenda of the planning body consists of corrupt persons.

Dalia said...

Dr. Oscar can still lead the blind Goans who fail to see the ruins of our homeland. The publicity hungry members are not crusaders of our causes but self centered. Some were planted by the politicians. Dr. Oscars one single call is enough for Goans to stand up once again. We want him to lead us. Not everyone can become a leader like Dr. Oscar who fought for a cause or else the state of affairs would have been different. Patricia Pinto is another crusader and my belief tells me that the real uprising is yet to gain momentum, it is already there but under the shadow of the corrupt politicians. Today's affairs in Goa shows that Crime is the rule and order of the day.
Thank you Nisser Dias for bringing out real facts to the readers. God bless you all.

Navelkar said...

Yes, Goa need strong and fearless leaders to lead the Goans who get confused every now and then when such controversies starts.  It is often a common scene among potential leaders too as the Crab mentality soon contaminates the environment and breaks off the trust among them and very soon it starts dismantling the need of good cause. Every one knows Dr. Oscar Rebello in Goa and the potential leadership in him.  After the success of GBA on Regional Plan 2011 the devil started having nightmares and therefore very soon opened up his workshop to bring down the success by poisoning the minds of the leaders of the GBA Group and he put them against each other in order to kill the worthy cause and demolish successes in future innumerable Goan causes. In reality, I still don't understand why the devil has penetrated in the GBA Leadership and why some has cast doubts on him.  I hope and wish a good sense prevails among these much needed leaders to make a little more sacrificial tolerances for  the sake of saving Goa and Goans from utter disaster and sure elimination. A patriotic popular leader should not fear his detractors who are out only to pull him down  like the famous crabs do because you never get to anywhere from it. It only causes the betrayal of trust entrusted in them by the people of Goa and State of Goa itself.

We the people of Goa and State of Goa need you Dr. Rebello and others too to lead us in all Goan worthy causes that we are really suffering at the hands of the present Traitor Politicians, the Government and Bureaucrats.

God in fact save Goa and Goans!!!.

Navelcar.

Shambuswamy said...

GBA failed because it was hijacked by the chaddiwallah's sangh Parivar, and the GBA found themselves unwittingly following the agenda of the sangh parivar. Some of the Pinl so-called intellectulas of GBA were still enamoured by the poster boy of the Goa chaddiwallahs -Manoo, inspite of the unseen scale of MEGA corruption that he indulged in, in the name of IFFI and other infrastructure projects undertaken by the specially constituted GSIDC, to bypass all rules and regulations. And inspite of all the saffronisation and thuggery of Parrikar. So I honestly believe that though Dr.Oscar is well intentioned and well meaning besides being a person of high integrity, he faltered coz of his own folly of misjudging people and their hidden agendas.

But he is a good leader, no doubt about it. Does it need to be mentioned that he was a student of Goa's greatest leader Mathany Saldanha?

Trevor said...

Dr Rebello has the makings of our hero, Dr Jack Sequeira....................I wish him great success. I hope someday he will lead OUR Goa as we have no one left to trust. We Goans need to unite under one leader. I know some will attack me for saying this, as we are famous for our crab mentality. We even rejected Dr Sequeira who died a broken man, after all that he did for us. Without him we would have NO Goa, NO Goans.....we would have ceased to exist! We would be Bombaywallas today, if it was not for him. Look at all the accolades bestowed by the current regime on the traitor that almost sold OUR Goa.   Please stop attacking the Dr. He is doing his best, more than all of us combined are doing for Goa. So before you criticize, please think what you have done for Goa. We all make mistakes and the Dr will acknowledge this, but I do believe the good doctor has his heart in the right place. Let’s stop the infighting and give this man our support. I wish the Doctor hears the cries of the children of his homeland and runs to be our next CM. He has my full support. It is time for us to come together to save our motherland. It is time to save us, as a people. We have to make drastic changes to save us; we need to do it NOW!
 P.s. For those of you that question my loyalty to this man.......I have not met the good Doctor, but I am eternally grateful for his hard work. Future generations will bless him for his contributions.

Pintod said...

Finally, Dr. Oscar Rebello has succumb to the wishes of his distractors - Bitter truth!

Gobor said...

absolutely, absolutly right. did he want to leave because of sabina. what was the problem? Goans need to know . We expect GBA like NGO's to be transparent.

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