Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
By Pilatos
In the past couple of days, a very heart-breaking story which was released on EBS TV was a talking point in Ethiopian politics. It was a story of a heroine named Britukan. Britukan claimed to have been kidnapped and tortured by her captors. 0nce it was watched by thousands of viewers, that show was made to be removed from EBS YouTube. EBS claimed to have removed it with the request of Britukan herself.
Ensuing this very sad story the PP party members especially the Oromo ones and a few radical Oromos that are dissident to PP came out to disprove this story. This piece revolves around these people.
The mendacity of the Oromo PP and radical Oromos argument
Birtukan’s story, whether true or otherwise, the argument these people bring to the table is preposterous. First when Birtukan was narrating her story, she never mentioned a place or ethnicity. These people came out and ridiculously complained saying this is a deliberate attempt to smear Oromo society. This reminds me of the one time argument of the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Meles remembering Tina Terna’s music which he said to have listened to it when he was young, in a piece he penned to criticize harshly Anna Gomez who was in Addis to supervise the 2005 national election representing the EU, he cited Tina’s song “What’s Love Got to Do with It”. Did Meles use it in the right place? Probably not. But in my view, this is exactly what we all should ask radical Oromo Politicians: What’s Oromo hatred got to do with Birtukan’s story?
A group of tug Oromos may have committed this brutal crime. The question is who made them Oromo representatives? What’s that got to do with the Oromo people? In this claim what is that these people are trying to tell us? Are they saying Oromos’ never commit a crime? But I think when they come up with such a ludicrous argument their target is one thing, namely creating a new Oromo identity which doesn’t exist. In the first place, thinking all Oromo language speakers think alike is insane. If we speak the truth these people themselves know it well there is no society called Oromo which is bounded by one culture, belief and norm. There is no anything that links the Harar Oromo with the Wollega Oromo. If we see the culture, the belief of the Harar Oromo culturally is closer to the Somali people rather than the Wollega Oromo. The only thing that relates the Harar Oromo with the latter is language. If we see the Showa Oromo culturally it is closer to the Shawa Amhara. But why radical Oromo elites are pushing for one Oromo, it is only for their own interest. Unfortunately, these people may seem to have adversaries from their Amhara rivals. No. They have friends. Why I say this is because it is their Amhara radical rivals that propagate their agenda forward. When they come up with one issue representing all Oromos instead of launching counter propaganda, radical Amhara activists come out angrily to express their fury as if that is really all Oromos questions.
Deception as a tool to stay in power
Abiy’s team took no time to detract Britukan’s story. Deception is Abiy’s tool to bolster his power. His Amahara fans had really given him a chance to be their leader, yet in the early days of his coming to power he had misused that chance to pander to his whims. The biggest blunder the Amhara fans committed is, the day they put their trust in him only upon hearing his words. Most Amhara and Ethiopian nationalists believed that he was a genuine Ethiopian nationalist and he would unite the country by even dismissing ethnic politics.
Yet at word level he looked to be an Ethiopian nationalist, practically, he was executing Oromo radicals’ interest. At that time, he needed Amharas and Ethiopian nationalists’ back-up to beat Oromo radicals. On the other hand, he sought the Oromo youth support, most of whom were encompassed by the radical Oromos, hence he executes the Oromo radicals’ agenda to look more Oromo than the radicals.
Hate as another tool to bolster his power
Another gaffe Amhara elites and Ethiopian nationalists committed was their inability to note Abiy’s hate speech against TPLF. During his good time with these people, every time he got a stage, he disparaged TPLF. That was his ruse to deceive them as he knew that would render him full of claps from the crowds rallied around him., but in my view that was irresponsible of him. Why was that, because partly, he knew that most, if not all of the crowd there loathed TPLF. His aim was crystal-clear. Look, during that time he used to say Ethiopia won’t collapse, but when he was denigrating TPLF, that was exactly what he was doing, meaning making Ethiopia collapse. This was what the Amhara elites and Ethiopian nationalists failed to foresee.
Abiy, except for his power, is a very irresponsible person, yet his Amhara fans were the ones protecting him when radical Oromos were launching attacks against his government. When hundreds and thousands of poor Amharas were displaced from wellega, his Amhara fans used to say it is the work of radical Oromos to discredit Abiy’s government. What is very tragic, okay let’s accept the Amhara fans claim, yet how is that being a leader he never thinks of visiting these poor citizens to console them? To add fuel to fire, when Amhara passengers were prevented from entering Addis Ababa, there was nothing Abiy did to correct it. Incidents like these make his Amhara fans flee from him gradually. Killing Amharas in the Oromia region continued unabated, yet Abiy’s response to every crime is really baffling. He came out angrily and reprimanded the public for voicing dissent on behalf of the victims. There is something bungled in the Oromo politics for which no one is accountable but the Oromo elites and politicians. In the struggle they are making for power, always poor Amharas are made to pay the price. When Jawar claimed he was surrounded, a group of Oromo tugs in Shashemene, Arisi and Bale roamed door to door killing innocent citizens believed to be Amharas. No one was held accountable for this savage crime. When artist Hachalu Hundesa was assassinated, again, innocent Amharas had to pay the price. In my belief, Hachalu’s assassin is in Abiy’s circle. In that year Abiy was thinking of conducting a national election and he had to win. Radical Oromos. On the other hand, were conspiring against him. Especially, Jawar had the upper hand. The Oromo Qeuros were under his control. Abiy, for whom that election was sort of a do or die thing, might have believed that he had to do something to stop Jawar from running in that election. Hence, Hachalu was destined to be the sacrificial lamb. No sooner was heard of his assassination, a group of tug Oromos roamed in Shashemene, Aresi and a few other Oromia region killing innocent orthodox Christians and Amharas they came across thinking Hachelu’s assassin is an Amahara. Still nobody is accountable for that. Where were these fast investigators who didn’t need time to find out Brirtukan’s crime, for Hachlau? But the question is not that. The question is even if Hachelu’s assassin is an Amhara, what’s a poor Amhara living in remote Oromia region who has no clue of the presumed killer to pay the price?
Therefore, now the few Abiy’s fans rallied together to blemish Bretukan’s story. First, it is a little hard to prove Bretukan’s first story in the EBS YouTube. Is it really orchestrated? In the latter episode of her story which was shown in all government owned and affiliated media, there seems to be two Amhara activists whom the government wants viewers to presume to be the supposed orchestrator of the episode shown in EBS TV. Whatever may be the case, Britukan’s story explicitly shows the administrations’ ignorance, not its intelligence as its supporters are trying to tell us. If there is a little truth in it, it may be considered a little success, if it is a success at all. But what if both episodes are masterminded by the administration itself? Brtukan’s testimony had happened under duress, she is in the government’s hand, therefore, it cannot be considered as a testimony. Or else, what if the government itself trained Bretukan to play both episodes. Anyway, why do the Abiy fans seek to amplify this story even if it is a shoddy work? I don’t think it is to embarrass Britukan. Their attempt is to prove every crime that occurred during this administration is an intentional act of its adversaries to taint it dark. There may also be Abiy’s interest here. Like I said, Abiy is now desperate from the Amhara elites. Even in this desperate situation, he seemed to leave no stone unturned to bring them back to his side. We can remember the day he claimed to have brought port when he signed a deal with the De facto state of the Somaliland president, but that was in vain. Therefore, by portraying this story as orchestrated by Amhara elites to smear Oromo society, he is trying to lure Oromo radicals to his side.
Propagating radicals’ agenda
Some Amhara activists’ naivete is really assisting radical Oromos. That is why I said they are their friends not enemies in my beginning paragraph. Look, when these people speak loud pretending to represent all Oromos, the Amara Activists take it seriously and speak even louder. An Oromo who was born and grew in a village in wellega, in no way can represent an Oromo born and grown in Harar more than his Somali neighbor represents him.
The problem in Ethiopia, especially, with this ethnic politics, we juxtapose the politicians with the people they claim to represent. We have to take a lesson from the Tigray war. True, TPLF’s ethnic politics wreak- havoc on Ethiopia in general, Tigray in particular. TPLF had a chance to create a conducive environment for all citizens to coexist. That would be very useful for Tigrayans. They would move freely in every corner of Ethiopia. That wouldn’t be a disadvantage to them whatsoever. Look, in an effort to weaken Amhara, it didn’t even bother when it made places like Nazareth, Dberziet and so many other places in Oromia where the Amharic, may not necessarily be Amhara, speakers are much larger than the Oromo speakers. It didn’t even bother the Tigrayans whom he claimed to represent. It is okay to make an effort for the Oromo language to grow in these areas, but giving it to Oromos, as we see now disenfranchises others. Not only that because of bad people who hold grudges against Tigrayans many innocent Tigrayans had lost their lives, wealth. This is because during the 27 years TPLF stayed in power, it was making enemies, not friends. It should have tried to assuage the strain among various ethnic groups. This said, as its adversaries clamor, TPLF alone shouldn’t be accountable for everything. In my view its foes are no less free from accountability. This is what I am trying to focus on. TPLF foes used to curse, blame TPLF, but they didn’t have any guts to work with Tigrayan oppositions, rather they always depicted them as eavesdroppers. And like I said, in this piece when Abiy gathered these people around him he used it to cement his power. What I am trying to say is that the propaganda against TPLF was crafted in such a way that it helps TPLF to strengthen itself rather than to weaken it when it was in power, but when he lost that power, he left ordinary Tigrayans vulnerable.
By the same token, the Oromo Politicians are making every effort to create a new Oromo identity which is non-existent in Ethiopia. This is what Amhara nationalists and Ethiopian nationalists should counter attack. For instance, I sometimes hear some Oromo activists saying Wollo Oromo is subjugated, killed and so on. Here what they want is, Amhara activists to say no not the Wello Oromos, Amharas are killed. If the Amhara activists argue this way, it is their propaganda. The Amhara activists should tell them to shut up, it is none of their business. That way it is possible to silence them. I see no reason for the Showa Oromo who lived side by side with His Amhara brother, an Oromo coming from Arsi or Bale to defend him. In short, when Oromo radicals propagate something as an Oromo issue, overexaggerating their propaganda breeds hatred between ethnic groups. When that hared grows its repercussions will bring about a civil war like the one we saw in Tigray and what we are seeing now in Amhara. There is no question, Abiy has poured down cold water on Amhara’s people sanguinity. Moreover, the Oromo politician’s contention, one to overpower the other has endangered the very existence of Ethiopia. The problem is they all say their struggle is to address Oromo’s issues. What is that they say Oromo issues? They say the Oromo language should be a national language. First, is that really Oromos’ headache? Okay let it be, if that was really the issue, when Abiy assumed power and the Amhara people joyfully accepted him, would the Amhara people stop him from making Oromo language be given in Bahir Dar, let alone Addis Ababa? When will the Oromo people gather together and ask them to make Addis Ababa ours? Now they are exerting all their effort to that end. But these elites are really very few and they don’t represent all Oromo speaking people. They are not really benefiting the Oromo people, rather they are disquieting it. On the flip side, the Amhara politicians, fully buying their claim, over exaggerate and spread as if there is one identical Oromo society. To counter attack their propaganda the Amhara activists should voice any Oromo concern like Amhara. Should the Oromo language become a national language, like I said, it won’t be a problem but not at the expense of Amharic. This is what is annoying about these Oromo activists. What insanity is it? Thinking for the Oromo language to grow, Amharic Language must be diminished. This way Ethiopia may crumble, but Oromo politicians won’t achieve anything. This is pernicious, helping no one. Radical Amhara activists, too, should cease to be puerile. Ethiopia’s existence is useful to all societies.
The writer can be reached at: yilmagebru2000@yahoo.com
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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Great observations!!!