I totally agree with your admission that "Dr. Oscar Rebelo can be quite forthright and candid." I also partly agree with your opinion that "With his powerful oratory, innocent looks and expressive eyes, he had become the darling of the Press", but let me also add 'the people of Goa as well' and I guess that's what is primarily niggling your ego.
First of all you have selectively reproduced only parts of Oscar's interview with Arti Das in GOMANTAK TIMES, August 7, 2008, Page A10.... When you compare the original interview with your distorted version of it, it becomes clear that the half truths as published by you is out of context and with the sole purpose of projecting Dr. Oscar Rebelo in bad light. You claim to be a journalist but you have broken every journalistic norm and code of ethic by giving the impression that you had published the whole interview. Have you trained at the 'Goebel's School of Journalism' where distorting the truth with half truths to achieve a fascist agenda is the norm? I am beginning to believe that the 'Goebel's School of Journalism' may be possibly located in Mapusa, since an ex chief minister of Goa from Mapusa also seems to be an expert in this school of thought. Dr. Oscar Rebelo has done his bit and given his personal limitation as truthfully admitted by him in the above referred interview, I and many of the people of Goa congratulate him and the entire GBA for the good work done in scraping RP-2011. We wish thank the good Doctor for his contribution to Goa and wish him the very best. Any achievement in life is ALWAYS a team effort and I am personally aware of the individual effort put in by scores of GBA activists, especially Patricia, Ritu, Reboni, Aaron, Sabina & Sridhar as well as Dean and Heta without whose time & effort even the supposed face of GBA would not shine. However, as highlighted in a letter by me to many of the members of the core group, that since GBA had fired the imagination & hope of the people of Goa, GBA had to evolve from a one point agenda movement into a long term sustainable organisation. GBA needed have a clearly defined vision based on the mass aspirations of the people of Goa, an accomplishable mission, a set of shared values and ethical framework. There has to be a structured organisation with a collective leadership with clearly defined roles & responsibilities. No organisation which is based on an individual or a single human face can survive for long. It's just a matter of time before vested interests and the crabs within will destroy the human face and cause irreparable damage to the organisation. An organisation to spearhead a people's movement must have a strict code of conduct and discipline amongst its core members and has to have a system to manage dissent in an objective way. The moment you are a member of the executive there has to be a degree of self restraint. We have to make sure we avoid ego & personality clashes, especially in public forums. Unfortunately Minguel, I'm sorry to say that you and a handful of other guys in the GBA have been crying hoarse from the rooftops, your hollow and distorted shrills echoing even in cyberspace. AVOID the public mudslinging and your immense knowledge and excellent writing skills for creating something positive for Goa. STOP being the proverbial Mud Crab which only tastes good in a nice Goan Xec Xec. And by the way, till you stop your hate mongering stop ending your opinionated columns with "Mog asundi" Viva GOA!!! Ricardo Address: 409/A, Fort Aguada Road, Candolim, Bardez – Goa Tel: 9326103522
