When a guerrilla dies in combat, a detachment of ELF unit would head into the hamlet of the close relative, if located in the semi-liberated areas. Shots would be fired in respect of the fighter, the close relatives would be told, and a small sum of money would be disbursed to purchase bunn, for the mourners. From the meager resources of the Jebha treasury. I also recall seeing magazines with pictures of tegadelti, and a brief proile about them, until the late 70s. This practice did not last long, as the war escalated and the casualities increased. It was a brief and humane policy.
The other front, that is Hezbawi Genbar, was always secretive, and would punish anybody who inadvertently discloses a fighters' death to either its own fighters or the public in general. On hearing rumors, grieving mothers (adetat) would often travel long distances in search of bits of news about their loved ones. The EPLF commissar would either refuse to divulge any information or deliberately tell a lie. They would often say, her son or daughter is "grm alo", and is somewhere in Sahel. An utter lie in many instances.
In the early nineties, Hadas Eritrea had a column, titled Harnet sala meswaiti, and it was featured for many years. The public, I remember was voraciously reading the stories. For years, it was craving to hear about the circumstances of the death of its beloved ones. The stories are mostly about the glory of the EPLF, and the courage and stamina of the tegadelti. You would not find any anti-hero characters in it. When death approaches, the main story of the character, we are told, would always shout "awet nehafash". I surmise, without any shame, they are saying the same thing about the moments of the thousands, who were forcefully drafted during the liberation war.
This is a great fallacy. People's last whispered words would often be for their mothers, or fathers, and wives. This is a universal human fact across all cultures, and all ages. Unless you live in totalitarian countries or belonged to like-minded armed groups. This is how they depict the death of combatants, that he/she died saying "forward comrades", "the red star will always shine" etc. Totalitarian literature of both the socialist types and the Japanese are full of such faked last words.
I feel proud to sound a heretic for a moment. The last whispered words of a fighter were not heard by a chaplain or a imam. EPLF's intolerance for any sort of religion were rampant then, and now. Notwithstanding the presence of many fighters who hailed from the rural areas. Many were not called by their names, but were instead addressed as wedi Keshi. The commissars (teketatelti mela) of the EPLF were the thought minders, and narrators of the brief life of the tegadalay. And I have never trusted their version. Having said this, I believe I am entitled to switch the commonly accepted word "sewuat" for the dead or the fallen. The word "sewuat" is too heavy for me. It sounds too religious, and I think it belongs to religious orders. And implies that all the living owe it to you, and afflicts them with "a guilt trip".
I sometimes feel nauseated, when I hear the words gereb sewuat, hedri sewuat, dem sewuat etc in our land. The regime that brutally tramples over the dignity of the living, the weak, and the aged can not have any respect for the dead at all. It is entirely for political purposes. The Ethiopian regime's outrageous denial of the thousands of the dead soldiers who died in the trenches of the Tserona war in the late conflict was an outrage. They are not the only sinners. Who can forget this line in one of EPLF's songs? " asatat bahri zemech tedereru." The fact is that untold numbers of EPLF fighters died crossing the salt fields of Massawa. A latter EPLF song maligning Selina substantiates its veracity.
During the battle to capture the Forto of Segeneti, Wedi Haile and many of his fellow soldiers were killed in action. In an interview with Hadas Eritrea in the late 90s, his brother had said this harrowing story. A veteran of the EPLF himself, he was wounded and disabled. And whiling his time in the sleepy town of Segeneit, his hometown. Although the theme of the story was about teyusat tegadelti, he recalled the war days and his brothers' death. Rare were the days, when the EPLF skipped Guayla after battles. He said after the battle for Segeneiti, his brothers' death unknown to him, he spent the night dancing at the guayla. A despicable death dance, one would think.
A loud outcry was heard, when the Tigrinia VOA journalist Aklilu was arrested by the thugs in Asmera. Accustomed to monopolizing the last private moments of the fallen, and without the presence of the deceased relatives', the EPLF did not give a hoot about the public during the liberation years. When mothers raised an outcry upon hearing the death of their loved ones, the long held taboo was breached. This was a shock to the authorities. For the thugs in Eritrea , people and their emotions are their sole property. They want only this to be repeated ad nauseaum "senat".
