The recent incident in Addi Abeito, Eritrea is a sign that troubles the soul of any decent human being. Comparing Eritrea’s current condition and call the colonizers’ era as “the good old time” is a paradox that puts the meaning and purpose of our struggle for decades and the sacrifices of our brothers and sisters into a big question mark. Did we pay so much not only to be short changed but to be more oppressed and abused by those whom we call our liberators and our own? It is unfathomable!
In light of Eritrea’s current affairs, the incident of Addi Abeito is like a tip of an iceberg. The real trouble in Eritrea is buried beneath brewing like a hurricane to unleash its destructive wrath. The Eritrean government is aware of the imminence of such destructive storm. The Addi Abeito incident is not even denied by the Eritrean government but minimized as a minor incident. AFP and Foreign Diplomats have confirmed the incident from eye witnesses. Therefore, the Government of Eritrea has no choice but to minimize the incident hoping it will delay the imminent. Even admitting as minor incident is uncharacteristic of the Eritrean government that not only “buries its head in the sand” but deliberately throws sand into our eyes lest we see the reality and identify for what it is.
My soul is troubled not by the behavior of the Eritrean government whose notoriety is well known to the rest of the world; my soul is troubled by our inability to look at “evil in the eye and call evil.” How long are we to justify and rationalize the action of a bedeviled system? My soul is troubled by our lack of human decency and moral clarity to stand for justice and truth. On the contrary, many of us have descended to our lowest common denominator at the behest of a bedeviled government that has designed a strategy of divide and conquer to prolong its godforsaken power.
The divide and conquer scheme is more glaring in the Eritrean Diaspora communities regressing to tribal and regional stage. Unable to call evil for what it is we are using each other as scapegoats for Eritrea’s trouble. For example, on my visit to Washington, D.C., I was appalled to hear that the people from Akeleguzai are labeled as “KKK,” Eritrean Moslems “terrorists,” Kunama as cohorts of the Weyane regime (Ethiopia lovers), etc. We even have begun dissecting family lineages, and we alienate them if they do not conform to our classification of Eritreanism or regionalism. Old friends have become new enemies, lovers and marriages have been split on that account. We bought into such divide and conquer schemes; as a result we are tearing apart the fabric of our unity that holds as Eritreans. In the aftermath of the current godforsaken regime, nothing will keep us together as Eritreans. Even our religious leaders have been co-opted and caved into constricting pressure of a government that knows no sacred boundaries. Therefore, Eritrea’s viability as a nation and our existence as people are in peril by design. This is what troubles my soul!
myaas@hotmail.com
