During the past few months, according ERI-TV broadcasts PI was busy touring different parts of the country. The purpose being, I think, to inspect the progress of urban and rural development projects and give directives to concerned authorities. Equally, on his way to give a litmus test to his security apparatus that help consolidate his dictatorial rule.
On his tour he also met with villagers, farmers, students, local and zonal assemblies and different associations. Besides he enjoyed many of the cultural events which seem tailor made for his welcome and the many words of praise said about him and his government.
One of the many things that make us Eritreans unique is that we tolerate the intolerable and conceal our discomfort and show a happy face in multitude. This bad culture is not only huritng us and prolonging our sufferings, but has become a good omen of public relationship to our dictators and oppressors to trade with it by saying HADE HEZBI HADE LEBI (One people and one heart)and tighten their pressure on us.
The second purpose of his visit is that as a leader who has isolated himself and his country from the outside world and lost all touch with foreign dignitaries have no choice but to roam from place to place domestically as a show of force to his opponents and nag officials. This of course leaving the many important pressing national issues that need intensive diplomatic campaign at the mercy of his mouth piece the Ministry of Information and some of his hand chosen loin voiced news casters and commentators who try to address Ethiopia's problems leaving their own aside.
If PI is at leisure confident of the boarder commissions verdict on the Badme issue and he thinks that sooner or later it will materialise, let him rest assured that this is a verdict that loses its stamina and fades with the passage of time in reality, but it will continue as a mirage in the eyes and minds of the Eritrean people and God knows how it will end up.
Today thanks God we are an independent country free of colonisers. But, if one trys to compare and contrast the colonial era and our independence under the vanguard of the EPDJ rule, to some extent, I believe it looks as follows:
When the Italians occupied Eritrea they moved immediately into building infrastructure that can help them consolidate their grip on the country. To do this they turned into forced labour and many Eritreans lost their lives in building roads, airports, railways, seaports and towns for which they were not allowed to use for many years to come. Besides this the Italians recruited our fathers and forefathers by force and were sending them to Libya and Somalia to engage in wars for the sake of Italian expansionism.
During those years there was mixed reaction from the people about this forced recruitment and deportation to Libya and Somalia. Some especially the young of that time who did not get the opportunity to be Italian soldiers and thought that it was a good missed opportunity on one side, and those who travelled to Libya and Somalia and saw the reality on the ground on the other side.
In our tradition it is customary to express ones feelings and desires, happiness and sadness or success and failure in the form of songs. So during this period there were songs of this nature sang by the first group as follows:-
BABUR SHERINAYE,
BABUR SHERINAYE,
NELIBYA INAMO TEMALENAYE. to express their anguish.
Likewise by those returned from Libya:-
TRIBULI TSELAINA KIDO,
TRIBULI TSELAINA KIDO,
ABEU TSELLO TEKAL MEHAMEDO,
BIKARA GEDIFUS BIGALEDO. To express their sorrow and hardship.
I think it is here that history is repeating itself when we see and hear of so many of our youngsters ending up in the Libyan deserts and eaten by its high seas to flee, this time, the mercy-less dictatorial rule of the government. The government who is denying its people their right of freedom that they shed their blood, their beloved children's blood and sacrificed every thing they owned for its sake.
If the Eritrean dictator thinks that the building of infrastructure in general and the sending of our youngsters to a war that lost its purpose will help to write his name in history, he should understand and realise that history is as merciless as himself that will never hesitate to write his name and tell about his leadership as it did with the Italians, the British, Emperor Hailesellasie and Col. Mengistu Hailemariam for their ruthless rule in Eritrea.
After the defeat of the Italians came the British and here under let me try to present some of their spoils also.
During the British rule a new phenomenon that appeared in our country was Banditry (SHIFTNET). There were two categories. One was of common criminals who under the barrel of a gun and cover of the night used to steal peoples' property and punish opponents. The second category was of those pro-Ethiopian rule in Eritrea who used to attack part of the population whom they considered as anti unity. These were the like of BASHAY ASRESHEY who was giving hard time to the people of ANAGER in Seraye Awraja.
During those days the British authorities were forcing parents and relatives of bandits to ask their children to surrender or face imprisonment. For this reason many parents were sent to jail for unlimited time without trial.
Here let me mention also a childhood story about an Italian who was trading in chicken and eggs between Mendefera and Areza in a three wheeled motorcycle (TUG TUG). One day as he was travelling for business as usual he was found dead on the road killed by unknown assailants. When this happened the British authorities immediately ordered two adjacent villages which the highway pass between them to pay blood money for the killed Italian or bring the culprits to justice. Thus the two innocent villages were held responsible for a crime they did not have any hand. But, even though they petitioned, their petition fell on deaf ears and were given a deadline date to pay the money.When they failed to do so, one day the authorities sent policemen under British commanders who reached the respective villages at down before the cattle left their barn for the days grazing and collected them in one place irrespective of milk cows and oxen to herd them to Mendefera. But after long begging by the village elderly they left the cows and took all the oxen found in the village. Finally the last thing I remember here is that all the oxen were returned after few days to the villages.
On the contrary, to give everyone his worth, during the Emperor's rule of Eritrea there was an amnesty given to the shiftas on condition. Those common shiftas who did not commit any serious crime were pardoned immediately. While those who committed serious crimes were made to settle their disputes with their opponents before they were granted the governments pardon. This solution gave good relief to rural areas who were the victims of the bandits and police men alike.
Coming back to my heading, quite some time has passed since the EPDJ government imposed penalty on parents and relatives of would be run away youngsters on two conditions:-
a) to surrender their children.
b) to pay 50,000.00 Nakfa penalty or face imprisonment if they can not avail them for torture and imprisonment.
Taking into consideration the present overall deteriorating economic situation of the country, and the difficulties individual families are encountering in their daily life, on what basis can a normally functioning government impose such punishing measures that demoralises and humiliates its people. The people who sacrificed themselves, their children and property and who received the dictator with flowers and jubilation and saw in him the glimpse of hope as a hero and put their full trust on him and supported him and tolerated him.
Some times when I sit alone and think about the governments actions, I ask to myself is this really its decision or there are elements within its rank who sabotage it.
Again, when I look to the past and try to asses the sub-culture they developed as the EPLF and carried it to independent Eritrea helps me to satisfy myself that it is really the work of the ruling click. Because they consider the tolerance and patience of the Eritren people - due to his past painful experience -as weakness they do not seem to realise that the day he spits on their face and see their down fall as he did with Haile Selassie and Mengistu is nearing.
Other than the ruling party there are people who are hand and glove with it who beat drums and who accept, approve, exaggerate and praise its actions. Most of these people are from those who live in diaspora with a secured life, except those in the Middle East mostly in Saudi Arabia who are sandwiched and hard pressed between their daily life and the money monger EPDJ.
I personally had come face to face with such people who support the 50,000.00 Nakfa penalty and the imprisonment of parents. Shamelessly the justification they try to sell is that, as per their words, for the sake of Eritrean unity and independence and to preserve the good name of all martyrs. And what is disgusting is that none of these liers has sent a single child to join the Sawa concentration camp or the forced labour campaign known as Warsaye Yikaloo. These and other reasons developed a difference of opinion among the Eritrean people that led to accusations and counter accusations and exchange of insults which is keeping busy most Eritrean websites. Websites devoted to tribal issues in search of blue blood citizens that emanates from their lack of knowledge of the orign of the different nationalities and tribes that constitute Eritrean demography.
Emperor Haile Sellasie used to say, quote "It is not to be born from a nobility but to be born oneself for a noble cause" end quote. Of course, the behaviour I mentioned above is not new in Eritrea. If we go back to the period of time when political friction was escalating among the different political groups of that time, today's type war of words was going on between the Arabitas and the Unionists. For instance if we take the case of Abona Degat Hassen, may God bless his soul, who was from the Arabita side, the Unionist used to scorn him with such songs(DERFI) such as quote,
"DEGAT HASSEN IMAMETU KISHA,
DEGAT HASSEN IMAMETU KISHA,
FITO TSELAE BANDERA HABESHA".
Today if the Eritrean people permit me to sing a song to avenge our father Degat Hassen, I will say:
"ISAYAS AFEWERKI BARNETU KISHA,
ISAYAS AFEWERKI BARNETU KISHA.
FITO TSELAE BANDERA HABESHA".
IZI WO DEHANKUM.
Thanks and best regards
