By Aklog Birara, PhD
“The people occupying the plateau of the Blue Nile are conscious of a glorious past and proudly call themselves Ethiopians.” – Elise Reclus, Philosopher
Ethiopian ethnic-based political elites, most prominently, the champion of ethnic politics and business, TPLF Inc., were always bent on shredding to pieces our commonalities, shared history and common identity as Ethiopians of all shades, colors, languages and faiths, from their {www:inception}. They embraced the {www:Apartheid} like formula of separation and legalized ethnic-federalism. They were determined to de-institutionalize and de-capitalize Ethiopian society by dismantling social relations among the population. This is the thesis of this analytical piece. As a result of their secret and coded arrangements intended solely to serve them financially and economically, they sowed the seeds of revenge and fear among the population. Youth are forced to belong to the governing party if they wish to secure a job, a home or further education. A network of spies has infested the entire society: one spy for 5 people. As a result, the country that stood as symbol of independence, honor, dignity and pride for people of color around the globe is now the center of the grossest human rights violations on this planet. TPLF Inc. is determined to obliterate the past, present and future of all people who call themselves “Ethiopians.” This is happening in front of our eyes. As far as I know, de-institutionalization and social de-capitalization of Ethiopian society started when TPLF Inc. took power 21 years ago, with a plan set ahead of political capture; and continues at a faster pace today. The champions of ethnic politics and business do not do this alone. They recruit other non-Tigreans to do their work for them. What we witness now is implementation of the sinister strategy using land and other economic resources to dispossess and expel.
Wherever one looks, {www:dispossession}, expulsions and human cruelty from government agents are widespread: the Afar, Beni-Shangul Gumuz, Gambella, Gondar, Lower Omo Valley, Oromia and SNNP regions and sub-regions are at the center. In this entire onslaught against the Ethiopian people, there is overwhelming documentary evidence that shows that the Amharic speaking population is singled out as ‘enemy’ number one. Why the differentiation? This group is identified by TPLF Inc. and the country’s traditional adversaries as nationalist, that is, as Ethiopian more than its label as Amhara. I documented this in my book, Waves, two years ago and forewarned that TPLF Inc. will continue its relentless campaign to dislodge this and other nationalist oriented members of society using ethnic-federalism and decentralized decision making as the driver. Using this mode of government arrangements, TPLF Inc. tries to camouflage its misdeeds by using surrogates. We know that, Amharic speaking or other surrogates have little or no power. They submit and follow orders. Authority comes from the top. The continued expulsion of Amharic speaking Ethiopians from the lands they use and from the neighbors with whom they coexist peacefully and amicably reflects this sinister arrangement. TPLF Inc. does this against its own constitution. Article 32 (1) says: “Every Ethiopian citizen or any other person legally in Ethiopia has the right to freedom of movement anywhere within the national territory, to choose freely his place of residence anywhere in the national territory, and to leave the country.” What a joke? People naively wonder why the outside world, especially donors and diplomats with stake in Ethiopia do not react to this façade?
Although this is not the purpose of this piece, I should like to share my take on the matter again. British and American policy makers, the two largest sources of bilateral aid to Ethiopia, know that the TPLF Corporate group is anathema to their own values of the rule of law, human freedom, free enterprise and a semblance of democracy, for example, checks and balances and political pluralism. Why do they support a repressive regime that portends insecurity and instability in the long-run? Why do they refuse a movement toward globally accepted norms of humane institutions, decency, fair play, openness and the like? In my view and the views of other prominent international experts on the subject, democratic reconstruction and reconfiguration are secondary to their national interests of security and stability in the Horn of Africa. In other words, they are willing and ready to sacrifice their core values to serve their own narrow and short-term national interests of averting terrorism and instability in the Horn of Africa as they have done in the rest of the world. This is why Ethiopian opposition groups cannot afford to operate in their own silos. They need to cooperate and show credibility that they stand for a bigger cause than narrow or parochial interests.
Like us, the world community looks at the faces of innocent children and women forcibly expelled from their farmlands and properties where their forefathers worked and lived for 100 years plus, in Benji Maji, Southern Ethiopia. Like us, those whose profession is to monitor the Horn know that theirs is a fresh and ugly testimony and reminder of how far ethnic politics and business in Ethiopia would go to bring havoc to this ancient land. They know that, with a stroke of an order–no doubt emanating from the highest levels of the governing party–children and women and poor farmers were herded like sheep in their own country by their own government and forcibly expelled from their homes. They know that neighbors were awed but could do nothing in the country of fear and revenge. The {www:bewilderment} in the faces of the children and women are graphic and speak louder than my capacity to write about them; and the cruelty and brutality of a regime that has literally gone wild and mad. These Ethiopians could be our children, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers and or relatives. It does not matter. They are, first and foremost human beings and Ethiopians who deserve treatment with honor and dignity. Their expulsion is ours too. Donors and diplomats in Addis Ababa know all of this; but cannot say much because it does not affect their interests. It is up to us to make them understand and to draw them to our side.
TPLF Inc.’s ethnic politics and business robbed these Ethiopians displaced from their homes, of their humanity, dignity and honor. Trust me. Regardless of ethnic, religious, ideological or demographic affiliation, it is our own common humanity, dignity and honor that are robbed and are being undone by tribal elite that have no decency or humanity to speak of. No doubt in my mind that the leaders of the regime would find excuses for this too. They will blame someone else for the mess. I am not entirely clear where this unprecedented assault on the Ethiopian people is heading and where it will lead and to what end? Some in the diplomatic and donor community are weary but are not speaking out. I am wearily reminded of the civil war in Liberia, the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, genocide in Rwanda and the collapse of Somalia. If you are not; you must be either naïve or believe in miracles or support the status quo or do not simply care. I and others witnessed the horrors in Liberia where people were hacked like wild animals or in Rwanda where nearly a million people lost their lives because of their ethnic affiliation should worry that the same could happen in our country. It is not an exaggeration to put the pieces together by connecting the dots of cruelty and inhumanity and by arriving at a larger and ominous picture that seems to emerge. When people’s very survival is at stake, patience is not perpetual. TPLF Inc. and its ethnic elite collaborators seem to be determined to push the entire country into the abyss. Donors and diplomats in Addis Ababa know this but do not see an alternative that gives them confidence and comfort. We need to rise up and show that we can offer an alternative by cooperating once and for all.
In my view, the plight of the Amhara is not a single ethnic dilemma. Amharic speaking people have been suffering ever since TPLF Inc. took power. I contend with full confidence that that the Amhara ‘problem’ is an Ethiopian dilemma. Depopulating areas where Amharic speakers live is a strategic way of weakening this ethnic group and Ethiopia. Why do you think the number of this nationality group shows a decrease from year to year? Some are forced to abandon their national origin and accept a new one. Review the data in the old Arusie region and you will find a decrease. Where did the Amharic speakers go? I like to proceed with the bigger picture though. The plight of the tribes in the Omo Valley being forced out of their ancestral homes is not solely their problem. It is an Ethiopian problem. The eviction of Anuak, Afar and Somali from their lands to make room for a narrow band of emerging ethnic capitalists and foreign governments and firms from 36 countries is not an Anuak or Afar or Somali problem. It is an Ethiopian problem. The rape of Somali girls and women and the destruction of villages and property is not a Somali problem. It is an Ethiopian problem. The transfer of lands in Waldiba on which monks depend, to TPLF Inc. firms and or the state within a state called MIDROC is not a Gondar problem. It is an Ethiopian one. No matter the location or the population, it is Ethiopia and Ethiopians who are under the gun. Thus, it behooves all Ethiopians to respond not as members of this or that ethnic or religious group but as Ethiopians. This is our only salvation as people. We either rise in unison as Ethiopians; or we will all perish together. We can never allow this to occur. It is not the legacy we would want to leave. Is it?
As I saw the video clips of innocent and frightened children, girls and women, I kept thinking that only an invading army would do this to Ethiopians. I am reminded that even invading armies from the colonial era were civilized and humane enough to differentiate the innocent from those who dissent. Children and women and poor farmers who work hard to earn a living are not a threat to the governing party. Their forcible expulsion is a form of ethnic cleansing and therefore a crime against humanity. Only Apartheid conducted an identical system of political and economic capture that expelled blacks and herded and concentrated them in their own “homelands or Bantustans.” This way, it is easier to monitor, subjugate and control them. TPLF Inc. does not have the moral courage or commitment to differentiate between those who dissent against it and those who live and work peacefully and legally in different parts of the country.
Ironically, Tigreans are free to live and work anywhere in Ethiopia. They are state sponsored and can own property anywhere in the country. A recent informal survey from a reliable group shows that in the city of Gondar, close to 50 percent of the population is now Tigrean as are more than 75 percent of major enterprises. Here is the difference. The Amharic speaking population of the city treats them as Ethiopians. No Tigrean national I am aware of has been expelled from the so-called Amhara region. This is the good news and Tigreans should condemn a ruling clique that abuses their name and expels people on the basis of ethnic and or linguistic affinity. For this reason alone, Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people do not deserve Apartheid like system that dispossesses and expels any or one group of people forcibly from any part of the country on the basis of linguistic and or tribal origin. Ethiopians must stand up and reject this regressive policy and the occurrences it triggers. They must recognize and appreciate the notion that inhumanity of man to man is not an Ethiopian popular tradition or value. It is not our heritage. It is the tradition of tyrants and dictators perfected by TPLF Inc. in other words; it is a governance and system’s issue.
Is our history as cruel as TPLF Inc. manifests it?
I should like to take the reader back to a snippet of history to strengthen my argument. TPLF Inc. rejects the evolution of the country it defines as a “prison of nations, nationalities and peoples,” for which it is the proclaimed liberator. These narrow-minded, clubby and family centered minority ethnic elite try to compel innocent and self-serving people alike to believe that our identity should be defined narrowly in tribal and linguistic terms. It uses emotions to drive its political and economic agenda on the rest of us. The reader knows that people enjoy different identities for different reasons. I will identify some of my own: am a professional in development, have a higher degree and was and or is a banker, professor, writer, belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, am a father, a husband and my linguistic affiliation is to Amharic and regional origin, Gondar. Of these, which one do you think is the identity that I cherish most and share or have in common with millions? It is this. I am an Ethiopian and have a great deal in common with Ethiopians than other people in the world. I presume most of us who hail from Ethiopia have numerous identities but believe in the notion that we are Ethiopians or people of Ethiopian origin. It is this core value that will save us.
The singular identity that binds us together regardless of different affiliations is that we belong to a country called Ethiopia. Hence, our commonality is expressed as Ethiopians and or as people of Ethiopian origin. TPLF Inc. wants us to sink to the bottom and think and organize ourselves as Amharic speakers or an Amhara ethnic group. I caution my compatriots that this is a tempting trap to which we should not sink. We need to be strategic and take the higher road of our historical and legitimate identity as Ethiopians. Let me elaborate within the context of today’s global community in which the TPLF Inc. formula is totally against the tide.
Who in the world would find it credible if I told (in official travels with the World Bank) a Chinese or a Brazilian or a Nigerian or a Norwegian at their respective airports that I am an Amharic speaking Gondarie? Wouldn’t the person find it incredible if I told him or her that I cannot live and or work in any part of Ethiopia because of my linguistic or ethnic affiliation? TPLF Inc. has reduced us to this low level. It is this emotionally driven and politically motivated identity that TPLF Inc. imposes on most of us. Some accept the new norm because of fear. Some accept it because of greed. Others accept it because of ignorance. Still others accept it because they believe in it. No matter the motive, TPLF Inc. wants us to believe that it is implementing Apartheid like formula on behalf of ‘oppressed nations, nationalities and people.’ The intent is to undermine Ethiopian unity and identity. The acid test of being an Ethiopian is the possibility of living and working in any part of Ethiopia. Otherwise, our commonality becomes meaningless regardless of the propaganda propagated by TPLF Inc. that we should all buy Renaissance Bonds and send our hard earned monies in support of a regime that does not allow us to fulfill our potential in our own country. Just think of this. The governing party that champions Ethiopian nationalism when it suits its interests still calls itself by its origin, Tigray People’s Liberation Front? Liberation from who is now a legitimate question. The reader knows the answer and the purpose.
The Greeks looked up to ancient Ethiopia and called it the common cradle of mankind. Among other things, they contended that ancient Egyptians “derived their civilization and religions from Ethiopia and Ethiopians. Ptolemaic (Greek) writers and philosophers felt and wrote that “Ethiopians were the first men that ever lived.” Martin Bernal’s “Black Athena: the Afro-Asiatic roots of classical civilization,” provides rich data and information on the richness of Ethiopian history; and, more important on the movement and on the interconnectedness of most Ethiopians for thousands of years. Interconnectedness of Ethiopians has now been validated through archaeological findings that confirm that Ethiopia is indeed the origin of humankind. In their highly acclaimed book, “Lucy (Dinknesh): The Beginnings of Humankind,” Donald Johansson and Maitland Edey, document the dramatic discovery of Lucy’s (Dinknesh’s) “completeness in the history of hominid fossil collection.” Dinknesh’s (Lucy’s) discovery did not happen by accident. It is a tribute to the farsightedness of Emperor Haile Selassie, who, in the 1950s–during a visit to Kenya–invited Western Anthropologists to explore fossils in Ethiopia and granted the requisite permits. The Omo valley expedition lasted from 1967 to 1977 and resulted in the finding of Dinknesh (Lucy). “There could no longer be any argument about that, or conjecture over whether a certain leg bone and a certain skull did or did not belong the same individual (Dinknesh). Here they were, together in one unbelievable skeleton.”
Dinknesh refers to a country known for thousands of years as Ethiopia, home of our common humanity as Ethiopians. If we are indeed the origin of mankind, possess an incontestable long history and have served as a home to different ethnic and religious groups for thousands of years, who is responsible for reducing us to identify one another as members of a tribe or a linguistic group rather than as Ethiopians? It is the EPLF, TPLF and other ethnic-based liberation fronts who wish us harm. It is also their foreign sponsors that continue to be inimical to a strong, unified and prosperous Ethiopia. As the champion of ethnic politics and business (the two are linked), TPLF Inc. is determined to obliterate this common humanity that the Ethiopian people have shared for thousands of years. This commonality has been strengthened generation after generation through marriages, economic and religious interactions, migration of people from South to North, from North to South, from East to West and from West to East and many in between. This is why I contend that Ethiopia and Ethiopians are the pace-setters of what is now commonly known as globalization. This phenomenon began as a result of human mobility from Ethiopia and the rest of Africa to the rest of the globe. Before Ethiopians moved across the globe, they spread within Ethiopia. Their linkages are thus incontestable.
Ethiopian identity and globalizing influence that TPLF Inc. wishes to undo by rewriting our entire history and reducing it to just 100 years to suit it, and by spreading the venom of ethnic revenge and hate are not confined to the story of Dinknesh, although hers is the foundation of our humanity. Herodotus, the Greek historian documented that Ethiopians reached out to the rest of the world through trade in spices and ivory far beyond Egypt and the Gulf. Ethiopians are said to have moved to and served in Persian armies. “The Eastern Ethiopians—for there were two sorts of Ethiopians in the army—served in the Indian army.” Here is the key though. “These were just like the Southern Ethiopians, except for their language and their hair; their hair is straight.” Threads that bind Ethiopians among one another through marriages, social and economic interactions, religious practices, localities and regions are rooted in our past. With its ups and downs and imperfections and manifestations of gross injustice, our past is the foundation of our present and future. In light of this, our diversity is nothing new. It has always been there. The trick is to harness it for the better.
Yet, our political leaders and institutions failed to use our diversity creatively and constructively in building an enduring, just and all inclusive society. Experts foreign and domestic recognize our history and diversity as sources of uniqueness and strength rather than as liabilities. Under TPLF Inc., both history and diversity are liabilities. These are used as political tools to create and deepen wedges to divide us, frighten us, exploit us and create animosities among us.
TPLF Inc. forces us to forget the assets and treasures that emanate from our roots and the uniqueness that our forefathers left for us. One additional example cements this point. In the 19th century, M. Le Jean, French, said this. “Ethiopia, even during its state of greatest decadence, offers to the unprejudiced traveler, the elements of an advanced social order. Feudality certainly exists there, but scarcely to a greater extent than in England…the administrative machinery is simple…is property well defined; individual rights are guaranteed by appeal to the Emperor; commerce is protected; and political vengeance and horrors of war in a great measure neutralized…” Can you say the same about the Meles Zenawi Government today? I cannot. The evidence is overwhelmingly oppressive and repressive. This is why revenge, fear and expulsion come naturally to the governing clique.
What can and should we do?
There is a great deal we can and should do. The starting point is for each of us and for our communities to believe and commit to preserving this ancient land and to frame an alternative that will accommodate the needs and interests of all its members. Our individual and collective responsibility is, first and foremost, to halt this frightening phenomenon of fear, ethnic divide and repression that–if not halted now–is likely to destroy all of us. We must determine that we do not wish to witness another Liberia, Rwanda or Somalia in Africa. TPLF Inc. and other surrogate ethnic-based parties use language and or other differences as a criterion to implant fear and revenge; to discriminate and expel as if we are not of the same diverse family; and to undo what has been built by all Ethiopians over thousands of years. Our ability and readiness to embrace one another and to stand for one another; and to reject ethnic divide is the starting point. We can do this wherever we are and in numerous ways.
This is the big picture I should like to implant in the reader’s mind. We need to reject the Apartheid like system that drives little children and mothers, old people and poor farmers from their homes and farms and from their neighbors. In part two of this commentary, I will provide a specific example of the horrors of ethnic cleansing and civil wars that entail irreparable damage regardless of the temporary strength of a ruling group.
4/4/2012
The second in this series will be posted next week
16 thoughts on “Can Ethiopians Afford to Ignore TPLF Inc.’s atrocities?”
Doctor Aklog,
thank you,and i admire your knowledge and the love you have for Ethiopia and it is history.and i,understand every thing that you have said and believe on the same history of Ethiopia.
now we have a parasite call TPLF dismantling mama Ethiopia piece by piece in Minilek place,are we going to seat and wait for them(TPLF) to come to their seances and accept Ethiopia and Ethiopian history. or just play the same game on them that they have been playing the last 21 years and get red of them. cos this parasite TPLF woyane have no intention to save Ethiopia rather there main goal is to destroy Ethiopia. they are following Samson philosophy witch is in the end i will be destroyed, their for i will destroy Ethiopia with me.if we don’t get read of TPLF inc.very soon we will not have Ethiopia as we know it.
True_Lion replies:
April 7th, 2012 at 3:47 AM
Ethiopia will always stand… the curse here is that Humanity, Religion, Governance and mostly a society blind to all facts are the cause. I guess that Heaven has imaginary lines, that money exists up top and that everyone will make it up there.
People who are weak and have no Honor, a word that all leaders have no clue about… Hide in caves and bunkers. A true leader is one who will take the helm and die for their people. You all better remember that key difference.
Jegnaw Ethiopiawe replies:
April 7th, 2012 at 3:22 PM
I, like to believe Ethiopia will always stand, yes Ethiopia has stood 5700 years.but right now at the present the sick parasite TPLF is dismantling the foundation Ethiopia one by one. the question is not what Ethiopia was but what Ethiopia is under this banda TPLF and how we are going to rescue Ethiopia.we can talk about philosophy all day but that will not liberate Ethiopia from this sick TPLF and we need to find a medicine for this parasite TPLF soon or Ethiopia will no survive any longer.and let us pot our ego aside…
and for those don’t know about Ethiopia.Ethiopian history gos beyond Queen of Saba and i don’t need a lecture.. thanks…
Mistre replies:
April 7th, 2012 at 6:22 PM
What I don’t get it all this time is why is it only the Amharas who had been fighting for Unity of Ethiopia? I am not saying there are not others who did but majority of the young people never said they want to fight for an Amhara territory.They fought for every one against feudalism, they fought the Derg and their parents were called feudals and were murdered by the fascist Mengistu, Woyane and Shabia called them chauvinists and they murdered them, and now even the poorest of the poor, they are being evicted from their homes empty handed. Is this the country that their Amhara parents and grandparents died for against foreign invaders? Why is it that the Amhara people don’t fight for their rights now? What are they going to loose after all? They always say they fight for Ethiopia while others say they fight for Tigray,Eritrea, Ogaden, Oromya,etc. So is this a loosing battle to fight for Ethiopia at the expense of the lives of Amhara children, journalists, teachers, farmers etc? Anti-Amhara movement started a long time ago even before Woyane came to power.Why is it that every one else wants to attack, insult, or kill Amharas? Is it right to punish every one for generations for the crimes committed by feudal landlords?
The Germans and the their neighbors work together for European unity after what happened during the second world war. The Japanese are good friends with United States after bombed with Atomic Bombs, the Chinese were occupied by the Japanese, the Native Americans live with peace and harmony with all Americans.
So what is it that in Ethiopia being an Amhara is a crime? Even pregnant Amhara women were not left alone. What is going on?
who are ethiopians these days?
amaharas and few in the south, west and east. c’mon let us cut the bullshit and amharas get together. the sooner the better.
Dear jegnaw ethiopiawe,
I noticed that you feel the need to comment on every little thing. People like you tend to have some kind of deficiency, maybe nobody listens to what you have to say in REAL life. Please shut your big mouth. Thank god I do not know you because I would have shut your mouth for you. You are nothing but a SIRA FET. You are a low class piece of shit with bad grammar and too much time on your hands. I think thats because you have nothing better to do in your parking booth other than stealing, you thief! Go get a real job and some English classes you bitch.
crying Ethiopian replies:
April 7th, 2012 at 8:26 PM
Addis boy you are typical tigray or Adwa boy not Addis boy.You must be one of the weyane low lives .You know what I mean like Seyum Mesfin,Seye Abraha or Meles Zenawi who grew with no family structured house hold but as a low life city dwellers.I can tell from the words u use and lumpen attitude.
You guys, Habashas, have always the some problem. Destroying the non habesha and benefiting from your fake country ”Ethiopia”. Amharas destroyed for the last 100 years. TPLF is destroying and robbing for the last 21 years. What they are doing now with amharas is worst. But, do you (Amharas) really think about the suffering and fate of the rest? Why do not you think and cry about the problems of Gumuz, Gambelas; Oromos, Afars….? when they suffer? Are they not your ”Ethiopians?”.
Both of you (Amharas and TPLF) are only good in destroying that country.
Addis replies:
April 7th, 2012 at 9:17 PM
that is a complete lie. you don’t even know the history of the country. how can you even say the Amharas destroyed the country? /they were the ones who kept the freedom and independence of the Ethiopia with others too. So you must be one of those brain washed individuals by TPLF and EPLF and others who were using this propaganda for their own advantages.Even the figure 100 years is not changed, it is not 99 or 101.Just shows you it is a fabricated lie. Anti Ethiopia activities were always covered by anti Amhara propaganda. They used to say they are not out there to destroy Ethiopia but “Amhara Oppression”. Any way it is time now for the Amharas to combine the two and fight back. There will be no Ethiopia if any ethnic group is oppressed and subjected under dictatorship or ethnic cleansing. Whether it is the Oromos, Tigres, Somalis, or Amharas they are all equal. But now what we are seeing is the others are trying to build a united Ethiopia without the Amharas. That will never happen and it won’t work. The Amharas have to put their acts together.
Nice piece! But do you really think that human rights and justice are the core-values of the west? There is only one core-value of the west: rip of Africa by all means possible, and keep the statuesque that make it possible, as long as possible! But I guess you already know better and did not just want to be ‘politically incorrect’ for your host country ;)
THE STORY PART IS TIGRAI,.,MORE POWER TO THEM ,..
“the TPLF took over the sick and tired mama Ethiopia,give it a little bit oxygen in the form of the nominal federal government structure” what a joke..and how did you get to trams between TPLF and mama Ethiopia.you just believe your Owen lies or you think we don’t understand?TPLF and mama Ethiopia are entirely two different thing..
are you kidding me as long as TPLF.inc are in power there will never be any thing like that,not even close.
“Equality,true new democracy,unity with diversity and justice for all is the way”
pls. take what ever TPLF pill you are taking.cos all that what you just say will never exist as long as we have this sick TPLF parasite…
What a jerk you are, “mama Ethiopia getting a bit of oxygen from the TPLF’? I never knew TPLF members are so stupid they don’t even know what they are saying.If they don’t know what they are saying then we should call them complete idiots in a comma. This is just a bastardization of Ethiopian history, well what do you know anyway. You are so angry at Shabia when you were its servant you did not get paid enough, you are angry at Amharas because they fight for unity, democracy and freedom. You have telling this lie to your master Arab countries to throw you some pennies in your pockets, you were selling sand to unsuspecting charity organizations to steal from your own starving population, and now your master servant is selling the country.Is that the Oxygen you were talking about?You total moron.
It is very hard really hard for bandas to be Ethiopians.That is what you are trying to say officially now like Meles. Why do you even try to be what you are not? Your parents sold the country and its people before and you inherited the same thing from them and making them proud. And even if we assume you are trying to be a true Ethiopian how can you ever justify it is ok to have a TPLF dictatorship reigning over the country? Even Ex-TPLF members are admitting that your own organization is a one man one woman show party. Unless you are some where up in the TPLF you should be able to see it too like every body else.
Sit down and eat rice with Alamoudin and die of constipation.
And before i forget, if you, the “smartest person in the whole of Tigray Melese” and all blood thirsty TPLF members put together you will never be able to write something so great like Dr. Birara. So your mouth is not even clean enough to mention his name.
People like you are the ones who are driving the country into chaos. And that is what your program and strategy is. I do not think the Amharas are going to be quiet any more. Unfortunately Ethiopia is at a cross road there will be no freedom unless your TPLF is destroyed. The Amharas are not your only enemies now it is the Oromos, Somalis, and others too.
Jegnawa Ethiopiawit, your name is fictitious and your comment is fictitious too. Total Myth.
you spoke of the “true” and the “false.” That simple opposition accounts rather inadequately for what occurred in Ethiopia. From errors concerning confusions about distances and numbers, all kinds of imprecision existed, as did a number of phantasms and myths. For example your criticism of Dr. Birara is unwarranted since some of your facts are all wrong. You said “85 million Ethiopians keep starving and keep dying for centuries”, this comment suggests that the Ethiopian population was 85 million for centuries. And another big question is that does this number include the Amhara population you hate so much?Do you realize that so many events happened in Ethiopia for centuries?
“the brutal and unrepentant Amhara minority elite system of authoritarian and dictatorial conquest, domination and exploitation of various none Amhra peoples’ human and material resources’.This comment negates the fact that there were Amhara intellectuals specially who fought for the freedom of all Ethiopians and they paid heavy prices. And among the “minority elite system” you mentioned, there were also Tigres, Oromos, Gurages,etc.So you made it sound that it was only the elite Amharas who were ruling Ethiopia “brutally”.
Some of your fictitious stories did not exist in isolation, like some creation sui generis or “rumor,” a hoax hatched by a specific milieu. You grew up listening to this mythical stories told by groups such as the TPLF and other enemies of the people of Ethiopia.
Historical facts should be demonstrably empirical events whose occurrence can be proven using evidentiary methods.You just spited out what you were fed. By doing so you are indirectly supporting what is going on in Ethiopia against all people and specially the Amharas.
You wanted to criticize Dr.Birara but you insulted the people of Ethiopia whose origin is Amhara by birth. What you commented is a total irresponsible comment at this moment of time. It is the time when the world is talking about unity, democracy, freedom, the rule of law and so on for all people. There are certain groups who would benefit out of internal fighting and division of Ethiopia and you are one of them. If you are saying otherwise your comment does not support that. You talk about Ethiopia but you incite the discrimination and eviction of Amharas.
Don’t conclude I am Amhara only. Like many others I am a child of an Amhara and Oromo parents.
We all know that like other histories, mistakes were made in Ethiopia, but
1-one thing mistaken does not equal all things mistaken.
2-The ordinary Amhara people paid great sacrifices for their country before and they deserve to be respected like every one else in their country.
We can not move forward unless this facts are recognized.
I believe all is not well at an aggregate back home but for the most part a lot is being done to the benefit of the people. One thing I have bones to pick with the government is the fact that it has become too much of a gun shy when it comes to what some people are saying or writing about it. From expression of point of view, I believe they have to be a little more relaxed and tolerant. That is why I am not in the house with the decision to prosecute individuals like Mr. Elias or Eskinder just for what they wrote. TPLF leaders and military commanders deserve credit for waging a prolonged military warfare and coming out on top in that endeavor. But the same tactic and strategy cannot be the scheme of the game when it comes to verbal criticism no matter how fiery it may sound and as long as it is not intended vividly to support terrorism or incite wanton violence. I say this fully aware of the fact that there are groups who have armed themselves and chosen violence as the only way to achieve their objectives. My comment does not include them. They have locked horns with the government and its armed forces and one of them will come out the winner sooner or later.
Having said that, I now turn to the issue of land being taken away from churches and monasteries. I think our church must do a thorough soul searching when it comes to the very fertile and huge but fallow land it claims around such places of worship. It should understand that there is a huge explosion of population in the country and every arable land must be cultivated in order to be able to feed the expanding population. Everyone has to pitch in and be a part of this sacred effort. The Status Quo cannot be maintained in this regard. Otherwise, it will be heading into a collision course with the government planners and then with the people itself. It should learn from what happened during the reign of Emperor Tewodros. It should also take part of the blame for our backwardness. We can say a lot about that. I remember when our priests threatening farmers with excommunication if they try to tend their farms because that day of the week happened to be when Abuyie passed away or it is the day Angel Michael beat the tar of Satan. It has come a long way from restraining itself from such destructive and unjust banishment of hardworking people. And now it has to give up much of the fertile land it has been hoarding for centuries. This is the 21st century and our church has to come to grips with the realities facing our people.
This is my take, what is yours?
aberash above,
The little bite of oxygen and breathing nominal fresh in the form of nominal federalism and the linguistic and national diversity idea attached to it is exclusively for the long brutalized non Amhara Ethiopians. I also understand that the same phenomena is Carbon monoxide toxic poison gas for those unrepentant Amhara elites (ethiopiawinet) whose 130 long years of political, economic, military, social and cultural dictatorship is being affected.
You are fighting for your exclusive interests and others are also doing the same but in the opposite and positive direction. Others are acting as a mirror to see yourself straight in the face, rather than keep playing the proverbial cunning fox dressed in sheep skin and fooling all that moves in the environment but critically reflect on your past, analyse your present and strategize for the future.
This means that we have to find a way out for the betterment of all and justice to prevail.
“The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep’s throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberators, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty, especially as the sheep was a black one. Plainly the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of the word liberty” ~States the wise evergreen saying :)
Ethiopiawit negn ikko! :)
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