Bouncers Beyond Bounds

We are indeed facing socially turbulent times in Goa. It has a lot to do with law and order, or rather the lack of it. It is an acknowledged fact that our children are not safe on the roads, specially the girls. Even the boy students are not safe. Parents live in fear of sending their children out. They can become the victims of child abuse anytime anywhere. Not a day goes by without some report or the other of child abuse, molestation, rape, kidnapping, suicide or murder. And mind you, I’m writing only about assaults on the human body, not property.

The alleged assault on eminent social activist and physician Dr Oscar Rebello by five bouncers was shocking news last Tuesday. The bouncers were hired by a film shooting unit to keep away pedestrians from using parts of some city roads in Panaji.  Dr Rebello was crossing a public road in the capital city of Goa, when he was assaulted by bouncers. The brave doctor not only withstood them but made it a public issue.

We know that bouncers are hired during public events in private places or for private functions. How can bouncers be used against the public in public places? Do such odious practices take place in other states of India? Can we dare to misbehave in public in other provinces? Citizens of Goa will dare not indulge in disrespecting the natives of other states which they visit. But our state is for sale and its citizens can be manhandled if you have paid some price somewhere. We citizens respect our Chief Minister even when we disagree with him on particular issues. But some companies that come to do business in beautiful Goa do not have respect for our citizens, not even for our Chief Minister. One of the bouncers dared to tell Dr Rebello in Konkani: “You can call Parrikar if you like. We have paid for this road.” It is a presumption that if one has paid one can do anything in Goa. What natural beauty are they trying to capture in Goa if they lack a sense of decency? Is it possible to have a sense of aesthetics without simple human decency?

Many others may have faced similar problems during this film shooting event, and walked away quietly either because of fear or lack of time to confront the organizers. People have to rush to their place of work or keep with appointments or go back home where children or sick family members are awaiting them. Teachers and students have to reach their schools and colleges. Patients have to reach the medical clinics, and some may have been going to Dr Rebello’s own clinic in the vicinity. Do we expect them to take on bouncers on the streets? Do they have the time and energy? Even the traffic police were bystanders when the doctor was harassed by the bouncers, who are also alleged to have behaved rudely with a young lady carrying a baby. 

The bold bouncers miscalculated when they confronted the even bolder and charismatic Oscar Rebello, the man who led the Goa Bachao Abhiyan successfully in 2006-07. The movement led by him was responsible for discarding of the Regional Plan 2011. The good doctor may have abdicated the leadership of the Abhiyan due to backbiting and crab mentality. But I can vouch for him that he is a born leader. He has stood out to be counted when it mattered most and has always been outspoken whenever a pronouncement had to be made for the sake of Goa and its citizens. We need leaders like him in Goa and are proud of him. 

I like to look for possibilities from various angles. Could it be that the bouncers were deliberately taking on the doctor to humiliate him? I sincerely hope that the answer is negative. And I sincerely hope that the evil of physically abusing social activists has not entered Goa, and it  will not enter in the future. Social activists take up public causes at great risk for themselves and their families. They are the equivalent of freedom fighters for our times. They deserve our respect and support.

Dr Rebello has raised the right questions after the incident refusing to be cowed down. He has placed the common man’s interest vis-à-vis private profits. He has placed the issue of bouncers in the public square along with the disturbing loud music that is played at nights in various places causing nuisance to the neighborhood. He has also mentioned private encroachments on public roads. These and other issues have to be taken in the domain of public protest more vigorously. 

The ruling party in Goa had recently put up too many banners during the recently held national executive meeting of the BJP, some of them welcoming delegates to the land where the mind is without fear and the head held high, obviously quoting Rabindranath Tagore. Our independent minded doctor has now once again added his name to the list of many Goans who fearlessly hold their heads high.

Published in The Navhind Times, Panorama 30.06.2013