OSCAR REBELLO, GBA, STOCKHOLM SYNDROME AND A HIGHWAY TO HELL 02-11-2010 | 07:33 PM By GoaTNT Writer
Panaji: Just when one got the feeling that chief minister Digambar Kamat has cunningly out-manouvered, outsmarted, outdone, out-thought, out-silenced and ran into ground organisations like the Goa Bachao Abhiyaan and other civil society groups and activists with repeated fake assurances on key issues, the National Highway might just reverse the tide against him. Dr Oscar Rebello, once the blue-eyed boy of civil agitation in Goa, who perhaps suffered from the infamous 'Stockholm Syndrome' (Wiki describes the SS as a paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein hostages -- in this case Rebello, express adulation and have positive feelings towards their captors -- in this case Kamat, that appear irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, essentially mistaking a lack of abuse from their captors as an act of kindness) is once again walking the 'Highway' to hell. He was one of the several speakers, who took the streets of Panaji under the banner of national highway diversion action committee (NHDAC) as part of a 2,00 strong rally in the city. “We don’t have a habit of coming on the streets but the Digamber Kamat government has made a history by making sure that people are agitating on streets almost every day with some or other demand,” Rebello said addressing 2,000-odd crowd near Mandovi bridge. The crowd which assembled at Azad maidan walked till the Mandovi bridge where they were stopped. Agitating leaders gave their speeches while agitators squatted on the road. Oscar drew parallel between highway agitation and Regional Plan agitation. “It was then that the Goans showed the government their might and this time too, history will repeat,” he said. The doctor also said that if we don’t protest now, 50 years down the line, Goa would be known as a den of prostitution. Sunil Desai, convenor of NHDAC, said that the agitation will now hit all the villages. “We will be holding village level meetings and after Diwali there will be a meeting in Margao in which protestors will march to the residence of Digamber Kamat,” he said. Leaders cutting across party line supported the agitation, which went peacefully except for minor scuffle between scuffle between agitators and police at Old Mandovi bridge. http://www.goatnt.com/full_story.php?id=118 _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/ tambdimati: the Goa review is a community blog of original _/ art, writing, music, news and commentary from and about the _/ smallest state in the subcontinent. check out the newest _/ member of the Goanet family daily at _/ http://www.tambdimati.com. _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/