Ambo Must Unite Us or Nothing will
Anonymous
This is not the first time that the TPLF murdered Ethiopians en masse in different parts of the country. The regime came to power through gun and maintained its grip to power by gun. It walked all its way to the Capital by killing and has kept up killing peaceful and civilian citizens as its way of governance. The atrocious acts of TPLF/EPRDF has affected every part of our country and there is not any region or village that has not been affected from north to south and east to west.
Just in the early days of its rule in early 1990’s, the TPLF/EPRDF started to pull out what it has in pocket one after the other. The first to taste the vicious and barbaric handling of the regime were members of the former armed forces, and we all remember what happened to them for defending their country. Next, the regime declared war in Oromia that resulted in arbitrary murder, detention and disappearances of several thousands of innocent citizens. The massacres in different areas of Eastern and Western Hararge and Arsi are good examples. Tens of thousands are still suffering in overt and covert prisons while many others have perished in prisons and detention centers. About the same time, the regime also embarked upon its other peculiar character – inciting conflicts between different sects of our society such as interethnic conflict. This has affected many in Arsi, Hararge, Borana, Goji etc.
Next the TPLF brutal hands reached Awassa (Loque) in May of 2002 when the regime solders fired at mass of peaceful demonstrators and gunned down some 70 innocent citizens cold blooded. This was followed by the Annuak massacre in Gambella region of December 2003 in which more than 400 innocent people were murdered in a single day by TPLF soldiers and by direct order from the them prime minister. However, we the Ethiopian people were not able to stand and respond together. In 2005 following the election crisis, the regime massacred hundreds of innocent citizens, of which the regime itself admitted to have murdered 193, in Addis Ababa alone. The Ogaden area has been under all out war and ethnic cleansing for years and we have been reading and hearing of cruel crimes against humanity in that region. Then came the case of our brothers and sisters who happen to be Muslims. Simply because they did not like the government’s interference in religious affairs consistent with the principles of the religion, we all witnessed the sufferings and ordeals they have gone through. Many Ethiopian Muslims were murdered in various places such as Wollo and Arsi (Asasa) while many others including religious leaders have been arrested and subjected to abuses. Moreover, The TPLF cruelty has reached various areas in Gojam, Gondar, Tigray, Afar and others. The attack by TPLF on Ethiopians is multifaceted and includes extrajudicial killings, detentions, displacements from lands etc.
However, in all of these incidents, we have never acted in unison to the extent that can make a difference. When injustice was done in one place or to one group of our society, the rest of us have not felt or shown equal pains. By doing that we gave the TPLF a very convenient ground so that it can do any thing it wants to without any problem. Moreover, by doing this we legitimized the TPLF’s divisive strategy.
How and why has this happened to us? Even at this very time when the regime is most hated in all regions, we are still not ready to deny it the chance to fool us. We have to confront this reality straight and discuss openly.
TPLF/EPRDF has carefully designed and implemented the divide- and-rule principle on us and the strategy has worked very successful. As a result the regime is harvesting the fruit. The regime is also confident that we remain divided and defeated, and hopes to continue this for indefinite time. I acknowledge the legitimate concerns emanating from the different political views and lines we pursue. However, TPLF has manipulated that difference to make it more productive for its own. This matter has given the regime an opportunity to play cards by adhering to one group when it deviates from the other. I urge us to move beyond this and focus on common enemy – the TPLF. Why? Because unless we come together and stand together, we will all remain preys for TPLF and be taken care of one by one. The other reason: there is no too dreadful political intention among Ethiopians of any view or ethnic group to my understanding. I assume it is all reconcilable. I also believe there is a consensus among all of us on the importance of being part of a bigger and stronger union in that sensitive region of the Horn of Africa at the end. I do not want to go into more politics in this piece of article.
The current question of the Oromo students is purely about democratic rights and freedom, and is not related to any political organization as the TPLF tries to portray. Their main question is why such a life threatening decision for millions of people around Addis Ababa was made without any consultation with them and where will the land grab and sale stops. Land grab and displacement of indigenous people is not new to Oromia. The students have practical information about what happens to those displaced from their lands. In addition, the cumulative effects of brutality, human rights violations, corruption, poor social services, racist policies, inflation and hard living conditions under this government have fueled the peaceful protests. All the major questions they were raising were relating to these and there is no doubt that these are the questions of the entire Ethiopian people. They raised our own questions. Questions deviating from this general trend were very few and only heard on limited occasions. Those things do not characterize student protest in any way. Partly, some of those things might have been done by the ruling party to incriminate the students while also some individuals might have used it to energize the base.
The student demonstrations were peaceful protests without any violence but they were met with brutality that included shooting, beating and detentions in unspecified place and number. In Ethiopia, we all know what an arrest in the hands of TPLF means- it means severe torture that results in permanent or life threatening disability and, in some cases, life long disappearance. International media such as the BBC reported that the town of Ambo only suffered 47 deaths and hundreds of injuries while local sources put the death toll to over 50. There are more causalities in Guder, Tikur Inchini, Nekemte, Haromaya etc. These are our innocent brothers and sisters who took penalties for trying to use their democratic and constitutional rights. We must unite for Ambo and rally together. We will be voices for those voiceless young school kids who were murdered in the streets and others who are detained en mass and demand that such vicious acts stop, all arrested people be released immediately and unconditionally, and the perpetrators and the commanders be brought to justice.
Source: Ethiomedia.com
The Abyssinia Times 