By Yaadasaa Dafaa
This article is dedicated to the memories of all our vibrant heroic Oromo gallant vanguards who selflessly gave up their precious lives in defense for their people’s pride, history, identity, and national dignity. This includes, but not limited to, recognizing and admiring all Oromo nation’s brave and unflinching political leaders and prisoners who refused to compromise their people’s freedom by giving-in despite all the inhumanly crimes perpetuated by the tyrant colonial regime of TPLF against them.
The Oromo revolution was rekindled in Ambo back in April 2014. Deadly intimidation and strong armed operations of terror were enacted against Oromo school children by the current Ethiopian regime of TPLF, who did not tolerate the peaceful students’ demonstration. Once again, on November 12, 2015, the Oromo school children started another peaceful wave of demonstrations against the occupation of their Nation’s land under the disguise of the “Addis Ababa’s Integrated Master Plan” for development. This time the protests started when the Giincii Oromos demanded that TPLF stop the transfer of their stadium and selling of their natural forest to a development financed by foreign stakeholders. Then, other people from all corners of Oromo joined to echo the same demands of halting the Addis Ababa’s Master Plan once and for all.
All schools in Oromia were closed after the Oromo people’s opposition engulfed for the second time within a year. Barricades on the roads have rendered traffic in and out of many localities to be unreachable. The TPLF resorted to using helicopters to unleash crimes on defenseless citizens and had to snatch back the emergency powers from their satellite agents and the Federal police while erecting a command post under the controls of their special mercenary force. People around the world started watching the limited information that was leaked despite the censorship of the news about the sufferings of the Oromo people at the inhuman security forces’ hand of the Ethiopian authorities.
According to “ESAT DC Daily News Thu 24 December 2015”, the number of Oromo people killed by the TPLF has reached 86, with thousands more tortured in the Ethiopian dungeons, including Obbo Bekele Garba. There is no end in sight for these barbaric acts by the Ethiopian colonial regime. There are imposed restrictions and curfews in different Oromo villages and municipalities. It is my belief that the imprisoning and torturing of patriotic Oromos and their leaders will not halt the Oromo people’s resistance. The Ethiopian authorities’ criminal behaviors will only fuel the Oromo people anger and demand for justice.
In reaching out to young Ethiopians, Oromos will extend our arms to convey our beliefs in the mutual respect and trust in democracy. Every generation is capable of exerting its own fresh and independent social values influences. Therefore, the Ethiopian younger generations will either:
- be the innovatively unifying force that takes on corrective actions by recognizing the glorification of colonial dynasty’s genocidal crimes as unjust;
- perpetuate the fairytale superiority and repeat the same cruelty themselves.
While welcoming the ethics of freedom from the old and backward feudal culture which is often void of embracing societal advances and novelties, but to remain its prisoners, the Oromo freedom advocates and proponents do nurture the inclusive paradigm for all justice and freedom lovers of all Ethiopian generations. Therefore, as far as the embarking on a meaningful and sustained corrective actions could be initiated in a good faith, a roadmap for positively engaging agenda for discussion could be realized in near future.
Taking a meaningful and sustain corrective actions means to support living harmoniously with respect for each other, seeking a positively share common value which is good for all as opposed to combing for differences and elevating ones’ own persuasions at the expenses of the others. Besides, it would serve no one’s interest to hold the young Ethiopian generation responsible for their dynastic and ancestral mischievous crimes on the rest of the young Ethiopians who were not born at those time, unless their current behavior continues to impersonate and mimic their forefathers by making irresponsible and arrogant statements, and/or glorify their past parental violations and offences against the Oromo people and the rest of all the overpowered Nations and Nationalities in Ethiopian. Thus it is time to start a new chapter in regard to the relations of people in Ethiopia. We need to start by being honest to others including ourselves. Thus, even if there appears to be no much difference between;
- the glorifying of the hereditarily elated traditions of “Unifying Ethiopia” on the grave of millions of the vanquished Nations and Nationalities including the great Nation of Oromia,
- the present regime’s disastrous crimes on the people just to keep the Unity of the country at its face value,
This should be a time when people who shares a lot in common needs to start the discourses of pros and cons of devising a new contract on the vision of honesty and transparency. Since all are proud of their own respective Nations’ achievements and uniqueness, more updated science of democratic, yet cohesive administration style and respectful coexistences based research could kick off for all the conquered, marginalized and exploited Nations and Nationalities within the Ethiopian empire state to empower them for the final championship. Only at this time, we may courageously approach the unity of the country from a different, but a winning and triumphant angle for all Nations and nationalities in Ethiopia.
We all witness that the TPLF has gone far beyond the boundary of retreat and recoverability for co-existences by their real and relentless magnetism to destroy the Nation of Oromia.
Why Unity now then?
At all the social coexistence contracts, starting from the single union, is being observed around the Nations and societies, that is naturally preferable for all to have a constructive dialogue for co-existence in reciprocally or mutually beneficial manner to all. In the case of Ethiopia, the Union that existed so far between all the Nations, and Nationalities within the present Ethiopian boundary was/is through the means of forced armed conquest enterprises where numerous fatal and ferocious coercive measures were drenched down the none-Abyssinian people’s throats including preposterous scale of atrocities. History testifies that the Nation of Oromia lost about half of their populations at the hands of the conquering Ethiopian army when Minilik II claimed to unify Ethiopia in the late 19 the century. The Nation of Oromia did entertain the heaviest chare of these atrocities of the Abyssinian colonization as a consequences of its size, resources and their bravery confrontation of the invading alien army. The Oromo National resistances took various forms and shapes including the formal birth of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) in 1976. The OLF went through numerous attack from within and out orchestrated by the Ethiopian regimes at every corner repetitively.
Since the Oromo people had been left with no other choices except defending its territory, possessions, and identity, the colonizers did attack all the Oromo social institutions degrading the exceptionalities, and ignored the Nation of Oromia’s fundamental difference to theirs. But uniqueness of the Oromo Nation is vividly marked not only by Gadaa: the democratic cultural heritage, but also through fully incorporating the pillars of the Gadaa doctrine, values, moralities, beliefs and codes for an individual behaviors. There are several plain veracities, practicalities and mysteries which do not lend themselves to the Western norms of authenticities and standards for validations. To understand the codes of Gadaa cultural heritage, one does not only has to be an Oromo, but also needs to acquire the original untainted gadaa cultural paradigm and appreciate it after mastering the primary fundamentals. Then, he/she could be in reach for comprehending the real Orommumma, and its authentic progress for emancipation. Other organizations and individuals time and time again fail to understand both the Oromo and its predicament in the Ethiopia political hemisphere. Similarly, different Ethiopian regimes, including some Oromo individuals do question even the very existences of the Oromo people’s resistances including the OLF. The underscoring of the achievements of OLF and its people appears to be the short cut to the scoring of some points in lieu of devaluating and isolating this just causes of the Nation of Oromia. But at the same time, the colonial Ethiopian regimes accuse all the citizens of Oromia (whenever opposition to their regime starts to mount up) for being the members of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) who they denied its very existence some weeks or months ago (if not date or hours back!!!!). As for the Oromo people, it is an honor to be entitled an OLF. It is only those with a matured and focused sensitivities that can comprehend and appreciate the sacrifices each and every member of OLF had delivered so far for their Nation: the proud people of Oromia.
Conclusion
The National struggle of the people of Oromia is/was envisioned for leading the people of Oromia to freedom from colonization by breaking all the yokes of subjugations. Consequently, it is much realistic to comprehend the struggle of the Oromo people in relations to its backbone; the gadaa‘s holistic model and within its own context. Basically, before contrasting it to the present-day hypothesis which are dictated by the empirical pyramids of technical researches, and theoretical methods that was/is applied in a different societies that holds completely different cultural value systems, it is much valuable to appraise and appreciate its less suitability with the tradition of literary idioms.
Furthermore, one need not to jump into a conclusion for the periodical slowing down of the process as it will erupt and resurrect the whole panorama of journey for the freedom at any presumable moment, as it did time and time again. Thus even if the pragmatism of the Oromo peoples journey for freedom appears to surprise and puzzle most of its friendly as well as adversary audiences, one needs to be sure that as far as the domination, exploitation, marginalization, imprisonment, torture, and disappearances of its citizens continues, the rightly envisioned struggle for justice and freedom will be continued no matter how long, hard, demanding, and arduous it could be.
Ulfaadhaa,
Yaadasaa Dafaa
December 25, 2015.
