A Historical Explanation as to Why Members & Supporters of the TPLF are Ethnocentric, Fikre Tolossa, February 1997
After the fall of Aksum, Tigre was ruled first by the Agew, later by the Amhara and Oromo emperors, regents, Dedjazmatches, Rasses or by Tigrean chieftains appointed by them. The Tigrean ruling class submitted to the Amhara emperors or the enderasses of Ethiopia (regents) whether they were Oromo or Amhara, and expressed their allegiance to them whenever they (the Tigreans) were weaker. On the other hand, when they felt that they were strong enough or oppressed too much, they defied their authority, refused to pay tribute and even fought them. One typical example of such Tigre warlords was Ras Se’ul Mikael. In 1745, when he felt that he was powerful militarily, he rebelled against Emperor Iyasu Birhan Seged, but when he realized that he couldn’t withstand him, he submitted to him. Around 1805 Ras Wolde-Selassie rebelled against the Oromo Regent of Ethiopia, Ras Gugssa. After his death, Dedjazmatch Sabagadis defied the Authority of his son, the Regent Ras Mariye. After the death of Ras Mariye, his brother, Dedjazmatch Dori became the Regent of Ethiopia. Dedjazmatch Sabagadis’ son, Dedjazmatch Kahssaye, refused to submit to Dedjazmatch Woube who was appointed by Dedjazmatch Dori.
After the death of Atse Yohannes IV, Ras Mengesha, who claimed the throne, supported by Ras Alula and Ras Hagos, did not express his allegiance to Menelik and submit to him in the beginning. It took Menelik a long time to reconcile with both Ras Mengesha and Ras Alula of Tigre.
In the days gone by, in the regions known as Tigray and Tigre, located on both sides of the Mereb River, the ruling classes used to fight each other for the sake of territories and power. For example, the ruling family of Shum Agame Woldu, the father of Dedjazmatch Sabagadis from Agame, the family of Shum Tenben Mircha, the father of Atse Yohannes IV from Tenben, the family of Ras Wolde-Selassie from Enderta and the family of Kentiba Tesfa and Zeray, Dedjazmatch Wolde-Mikael and Dedjazmatch Hailu from Hamassien, were bitter enemies who battled often for the acquisition of land and power. Nevertheless, they were all united in their opposition against and their feelings of resentment towards the Amhara, even though this or that group may have appeared to be preferred by the Amhara or seemed to favor and collaborate with the Amhara.
In the 20th Century, the Tigre ruling class persuaded by the British, stirred the peasants to rise (the Woyane Uprising) against the Shoan Amhara and Emperor Haile Selassie, after the liberation of Ethiopia from fascist Italy in 1943-44. A special force led by Ras Abebe Aregay suppressed the uprising. Taking the place of the Italians, the British had a scheme to rule both Tigray and Eritrea as one entity of Tigre-Tigrigna. To this end, they attempted to use Atse Yohannes’ close relatives such as Ras Seyum and Dedjazmatch Haile-Selassie Gugssa who had already been appointed as the Governor General of Tigre by the Italian fascists. Ras Seyum accepted the British offer to be the Governor General of Tigre, and then changed his mind when he found out that Emperor Haile-Selassie had arrived in Ethiopia from exile. The British replaced Ras Seyum with the opportunist banda Dedjazmatch Haile-Selassie Gugssa whom they promoted to Ras. The Emperor had to put immense pressure on the British government to assert his sovereignty. Despite Ras Seyum’s expression of his allegiance to Emperor Haile-Selassie, the latter was at times suspicious of the former, remembering his initial collaboration with the British. Even the young Ras Mengesha Seyum, who was then only 16 years old was implicated with being a part of the Woyane Uprising and brought to trial in Addis Abeba.
Evidently, the leaders of the TPLF sympathize with the Woyane Uprising and regret its failure since they have named their organization the Woyane Harenet Tigray. Some of the important leaders of the TPLF such as Meles Zenawi and Hayelom Araya (TPLF’s militia leader who was posthumously promoted to general), to mention only the two as an example, were from the Tigre ruling class. Ato Meles’s grandfather and Ato Hayelom’s father were Dedjazmatchs. Usually, the son of a warlord had a chance to inherit the title of his father if he was favored by the Emperor of Ethiopia. Ato Zenawi, the father of Meles, did not either serve fully under Emperor Haile Selassie, or if he did, obviously was not favored by the Shoan Emperor, since he didn’t confer upon him his father’s or any title for that matter. It is not surprising then if he disliked the Emperor Haile-Selassie, in particular, and the Amhara ruling class in general, and if he passed on this sentiment to his son. Tigrean leaders and warlords who disdained the Amhara ruling class, in particular, and the Amhara, in general, are likely to influence their children including some of the important leaders of the TPLF with their negative attitude towards this class and ethnic group. Therefore, the hatred towards the Amhara by some of the TPLF leaders is primarily subjective and vindictive. The feelings of the leaders of the TPLF towards the Ethiopian feudal system and its officials was the same as that of the progressive Amhara youth. However, their resentment of the Amhara ruling class, in particular, and that of the Amhara, in general, originates mainly from the influence of their families.
There are a few more reasons behind why Tigrean elites resent the Shoan Amhara, and all Amhara, in general. These Tigreans have a contradictory relationship with the history of Tigray. Even though because of their Marxist orientation they tend to label the history of Tigray as feudal, in essence, deep down inside, they are proud of Aksum’s glorious past. The fact that Aksum declined, that Tigreans in general lost power, that the capital of Ethiopia moved from Tigray first to Lasta, then to Shoa and Gonder and back to Shoa, that Tigray is arid, less attended and poverty-stricken pains them deeply. As mentioned previously, since it was the Shoan Amhara who throned emperors who claimed to be of the Aksumite, Solomonic Dynasty and ruled Ethiopia including Tigray for the past 700 years with the exception of the time when Ras Mikael Se’ul as the Enderasse of Ethiopia was governing Tigray and the rest of Ethiopia before the Era of Princess (Zemene Mesafent) for whose occurrence he himself was partly responsible, and the reign of Atse Yohannes IV (1872-89) during the last century, they make these Amharas as an scapegoat for the demise of Tigray. That is one reason.
Another reason why they accuse the Amhara is to consolidate their power since they are afraid of the greatness in number of the Amhara, their seasoned experience for 700 years in warfare, diplomacy, the political arena and bureaucracy. In order to withstand all of these and survive, the leaders of the TPLF have resorted to demonizing the Amhara to unite against them the other Ethiopian ethnic groups including the Oromo who are actually related to the Amhara. That was why the TPLF regime neither protected when innocent Amharas were butchered mercilessly in Harer, Arsi, Shoa and elsewhere, nor cared to bring the criminals to the court of justice.
With the exception of some individuals, the majority of Tigrean intellectuals have chosen to remain silent about the division of Ethiopia along ethnic lines and the attack on the Amhara. First of all, because of the historical reasons given above, ethnicity has always been in their blood regardless of how well they have been educated. Therefore, they feel at home with the division of Ethiopia along ethnic lines. Moreover, this scheme can weaken for them the Amhara, whom they consider to be their fiercest rivals. Most important of all, they think that the status quo is in favor of their home province which is prospering and developing rapidly at the expense of the rest of Ethiopia. Consequently, they have “ye egna lijoch nachew gid yelim yigzu” kind of attitude towards the TPLF leadership. For the opportunist Tigreans, there is no better time than this to secure power and amass wealth. So, why should they oppose the present Tigrean government which, in their opinion, is working around the clock to make up what Tigray has lost for the past 1100 years?
Even though their political system was far from being perfect, the Amhara leaders at least did not so openly campaign to promote only the interest of their own ethnic group and take total advantage of the fact that they were in power. Striving to accommodate all, they somehow shared power and wealth with the ruling classes of the other major ethnic groups including the Oromo and Tigre. The Amhara people were not treated in any special way by the ruling Amhara class. Consequently, the Amhara of Gonder, Gojam, Wello and Shoa remained as poor and as miserable as the common folks of Tigre, Harer, Sidamo, Keffa, and the other regions.
Whereas the Amhara, and particularly the Shoan and Wello Amhara, because of the vastness of their territories, their active engagement in war, politics and commerce, as well as their open-mindedness, easily intermingled and assimilated with various non-Amhara peoples of Ethiopia, whose ways of life, language and culture they inherited and by whose religion and tradition they were deeply affected, the Tigreans who lived in Tigray proper, as indicated earlier, were intact and all alone by themselves with no other non-Tigrean people settling amongst them to influence them linguistically, culturally and psychologically for at least 1100 years. True, some Tigreans found their way to other provinces such as Gonder, Wello and even as far as Shoa to seek out their fortune. However, the number of such Tigreans is insignificant in relation to the vast majority of Tigreans who have never been out of Tigray proper. In our time, though these Tigreans have been exposed to the life-style, language and culture of their “hosts,” many of them remained to be a closed society preferring often to speak their own language even in the presence of non-Tigrigna speaking friends of theirs, sticking together as much as they could. Even those who were born and raised away from Tigray and Eritrea portrayed themselves as foreign nationals with their hearts craving for Tigray and Eritrea where they have never been. Indeed, they were mightily ethnocentric. That was why they used to support financially and otherwise their own ethnic political organizations such as the TPLF and EPLF. This, of course, excludes those Tigreans and Eritreans who were broad-minded enough to join non-ethnic Ethiopian political organizations such as the student movement, the EPRP and Meison. Unfortunately, some of these Tigreans abandoned the student movement and the EPRP and joined their own ethnic fronts eventually. I know of numerous Tigreans and Eritreans who were born and raised in Addis Abeba and elsewhere in Ethiopia, who struggled in the Ethiopian student movement until they joined their own ethnic front. What is more, they waged a war against the EPRP and chased out its members from Assimba, Tigray, claiming that they were not of the Tigre ethnic group to operate there militarily.
Those who consider themselves Ethiopians first and foremost have responded bitterly to the division of Ethiopia along ethnic lines; to the way the referendum was conducted in Eritrea; to the fact that Eritrea is still the economic and political burden on Ethiopia despite her declaration of independence; to the sacking of Amharas from government institutions en mass and their replacement with Tigreans and Eritreans; to the disbanding of the Ethiopian army; and to the political and economic domination of Ethiopia by the political organization of a single ethnic group which safeguards only its own interest though it was supposed to cater to the welfare of the whole of Ethiopia. Even some Ethiopians, who in the beginning welcomed the TPLF when it seized power from the Derg regime, have now withdrawn their sympathy from and are disappointed with the TPLF Government. These Ethiopians fear that TPLF’s ethnic policy will lead to genocidal conflict like that of Ruwanda, Somalia and Bosnia and destroy Ethiopia. Ato Meles contends that his policy will stop this from happening. What he refuses to admit is that there is ethnic-cleansing albeit on small scale going on in Ethiopia, which may transform itself into a larger scale unless it is checked now. That is not all. This policy has established the political and economic domination of one ethnic group, namely the Tigre, over the rest.
I am not of the opinion that the TPLF deliberately designed its ethnic policy to annihilate Ethiopia totally. It organized itself ethnically to overthrow the Derg. Mobilizing some of the people of Tigray by exploiting their hatred for the Derg, it liberated Tigray. In the same way, it marched to Addis Abeba exploiting the hatred for the Derg by the rest of the Ethiopian people including the Amhara and the military which refused to continue the fighting. Instead of dragging Ethiopia back to an outdated form of social order after she had already achieved statehood as a result of 1000 years of struggle by visionary Ethiopian leaders, it would have been correct to only implement a policy which will secure Ethiopian unity based on equality and regional autonomy.
As things now stand, it is unlikely that the TPLF will destroy Ethiopia and return to Tigray, as numerous Ethiopians fear. The TPLF will lose its economic resource if Ethiopia is eliminated totally. It keeps Ethiopia in such a way that she is neither united to resist the TPLF nor totally fragmented to be controlled by it. That is why it suppresses any ethnic movement which seeks complete independence from its grip, though on paper, it grants such rights. In the long run, however, I don’t think it can continue to play this game effectively. The people of Ethiopia, whose level of consciousness is rising every minute, will definitely challenge it.
The reason given by Ato Meles Zenawi for the current economic, industrial, educational and cultural boom in Tigray and the absence of these elsewhere in Ethiopia is that the Tigreans are working harder under a peaceful circumstance, whereas the other ethnic groups of Ethiopia are fighting each other instead of using their energy in constructing their respective killils. What Ato Meles has lost sight of is the fact that it is his administration which has created such a hostile atmosphere which encourages ethnic clashes. On top of that, the TPLF doesn’t allocate as much funds to the other regions as it does to Tigray. Ato Meles’s assertion that Tigray is not the most favored killil of his government is far from the truth. There is no doubt that, under the pretext of reconstructing war-torn Tigray, the TPLF is pumping into the region money donated and borrowed in Ethiopia’s name. I have no objection if Tigray makes economic, educational and cultural progress as long as the downtrodden people of Tigray can benefit from it. In fact, I will be delighted about it as I deem the downtrodden Tigreans as my own people. Nevertheless, I want to see the same progress in Gojam, Gonder, Illubabur, Keffa, Bale, Sidamo Harer, and the other regions of Ethiopia. As long as these forgotten Ethiopian provinces do not get the same attention as Tigray, then the TPLF is indeed out there to plunder Ethiopia. I don’t think Ethiopians will tolerate this sort of injustice for a long time.
Will the people of Tigray get anything out of TPLF’s undertakings? I doubt that they will. Since almost all of the industries are owned by a few TPLF officials and supporters, it is this group of the “new rich” which will have the lions share of it, and not the Tigray people.
Some enraged Ethiopians accuse all the peoples of Tigray to be the supporters and collaborators of the TPLF. They also assume that since the TPLF had an army of about 100,000 Tigreans, by proportion, all Tigreans must be its supporters. The Derg too, had about 500,000 soldiers and militiamen. Does it mean that the Derg was supported by all Ethiopians just because it had a large army? Of course not! It was the Derg itself which created all the forces which united against it. When the EPRP was waging guerrilla warfare against the Derg in Assimba, Tigray, before the formation of the TPLF, or when it was yet in its infancy, many Tigre peasants embraced the EPRP. After the EPRP was forced to leave Assimba due to TPLF pressure, however, the people had no choice but to side with the TPLF since it was the only group operating in Tigray against the tyranny of the Derg. That was it. The only way any government can gain the total support of its people is by winning their hearts. Even if the people of Tigray were to profit from all the projects launched by the TPLF, it wouldn’t be that easy for the TPLF to win their hearts by buying them out with material luxuries. Individuals who have travelled to Tigray and Addis Abeba witness that there is more freedom in Addis Abeba than in Tigray. How could then the TPLF win the hearts and total support of the Tigray people as some of us think?
For any political entity to succeed in Tigray without resorting to violence, it should base its philosophy and cultural policy on the historical, traditional and spiritual foundation of the Tigray people. This holds true to the TPLF and even to Tigrean Alliance for National Democracy (TAND), which is opposed to government of Meles Zenawi; for neither of these political organizations could deeply root itself and last long without taking into consideration the cherished values of the Tigray people.
So far, I attempted to explain why the members of the TPLF and its Tigrean supporters are ethnocentric. Pertaining the Tigre people who now live in Tigray, as I pointed out in the beginning, one cannot know for sure their exact feelings towards the TPLF and the rest of Ethiopia, since they haven’t yet been granted the opportunity to articulate their true feelings. Theoretically speaking, however, most of them can’t be the supporters of the TPLF, since the TPLF doesn’t have much regard for their religion, history and culture which it negates as being feudal and backward, regardless of the fact that it is working round the clock to industrialize Tigray.
Upto the present time, the Amhara have voiced their sad condition through the All Amhara People’s Organization. This Organization was necessary in the beginning in exposing the atrocities committed against the Amhara. Now, however, in the best tradition of the Amhara, it should transform qualitatively and call itself, All Ethiopian People’s Organization, and champion Ethiopian nationalism and unity by uniting with all Ethiopian ethnic groups including the Tigre, which genuinely believe in Ethiopian unity based on equality. By so doing, it will win the support of the other ethnic groups to protect its members more effectively and to realize Ethiopian unity based on equality and mutual respect, for whose attainment the Amhara have shed their blood the past 700 years. Otherwise, it will contribute indirectly to the ethnic division of Ethiopia against which it has struggled upto now.
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Fikre Tolossa, Ph.D., is Associate Editor of Ethiopian Review.
A news and opinion journal on Ethiopia
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