I would be delighted if moderator allow me to post this!
This is something I recived in my e-mail, and after i read it I wanted to share it with brothers and sisters in this forum.
Here is the direct copy of it!
Arat-kilo
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Now I know
By Fekade Shewakena
June 17, 2005

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It is better late than never. Now I know many things that I did not know well, misunderstood or misperceived altogether. When I heard the orchestrated voice from the members of the ruling party about the possibility of a Rwandan like genocide in Ethiopia, particularly the frequent mention of the Rwandan interhamwe during the election debates and on the government media, I had thought that PM Meles and his colleagues were out of their mind. As a social science student of Ethiopia, I know that the Ethiopian people would not do anything remotely approaching the Rwandan genocide. I could not put my finger on it, but I had some suspicion that PM Meles and his colleagues were setting up a self fulfilling prophesy in case things go wrong for them on the election. I also took it as fear monger politicking for the o bjective of frightening people into electing their party.
I wondered, though, how people in position of authority and, therefore responsibility, would say such an ominous and dreadful thing as mentioning the Rwandan genocide and the Ethiopian election in the same sentence. I tried to logic with myself but I am finding more and more that trying to be logical is the greatest mistake one can make in analyzing the behavior of the government of Ethiopia. I researched the interhamwe and found out that an interhamwe can only be organized by a ruling group and wondered why Meles kept on accusing the opposition of planning one. I wondered how an opposition that hardly has any pebbles to throw let alone killing machines is capable of forming a militia to kill another ethnic group including members of its own organization. For all I know, the leaders of the opposition are some of the most decent human beings in Ethiopia. I could not get a clue as to why they could be accused of planning the repeat of Rwanda.
Now I know. And it is out there for everyone with a head to know. PM Meles and his colleagues were the ones who were planning the Rwandaization of Ethiopia and blame it on the oppostion. Now I know Prime Minister Meles has a Tigrean only militia known as the Agaazi that was deployed to shoot at demonstrators in the recent protest in Addis Ababa and other cities. This militia has the ethnic structure to parallel the Rwandan interhamwe. Why in the world should a legitimate government need an exclusive ethnic militia? I am told now that this exclusively Tigrean militia, the Agaazi, is under Meles’s command. It is the equivalent of Mengistus infamous kilib tor, the only difference being that Mengistu’s was not ethnic exclusive. I have always given PM Meles the benefit of the doubt and never contemplated he could go out to do such an obscene thing. I know some of Meles’s crazy models for Ethiopia. The Albanian model of socialism comes to mind. I have always wondere d why he chose the wretched of Europe for our model. Now he has another crazy model from Rwanda. Why was MP Meles talking about the interhamwe coming to Ethiopia without the slightest inhibition? As we now know, unleashing an ethnic war in case of a lost election and a refusal by the people to accept the TPLF/EPRDF was a contingency plan. The idea was to suppress any protest and then blame it on the opposition and innocent protestors the likes of which he recently massacred. I am sure my Tigrean brothers and sisters will wake up soon and say not in my name and demand the banning of this militia. I was elated when I read a recent press release by a group called International Tigrean Democratic Association. I am proud of these wonderful Ethiopians. I hope others would soon follow them. There is no more state crime than pulling our beautiful country to a dungeon of hatred for our children. I hope the people of Tigrai would not tolerate this when they know the full extent and long term implication of it. Sooner or later Meles’s would go. We as a people and our children have to live together, fight our enemies together, and share what ever the country gives us together. Our children have to share the joys and sadness of Ethiopia together. They have to cry or laugh together. Some power hungry goons and thugs should not push us to the abyss.

Dictators often think like the proverbial donkey that famously said she doesn’t care if the grass grows after she died. Let Meles and his clique be the only ones responsible for the blood that flooded the streets of Addis Ababa. It seems to me Meles has chosen joining the ranks of the Idi Amins, the Bokasas and the Mengistus of Africa with his disregard for human life. He should not be allowed to take down the people Tigrai with him.

The foreigners and the donors who fund Meles’s government without understanding the inner workings of his mind system are pitiful. Their utter disregard for the will of the pe ople of poor countries and hypocrisy is disquieting. Now I know why Zimbabwe’s Mughabe is dubbed the most ruthless tyrant in Africa by the West. He did not fire on unarmed protestors like Meles and did not commit genocide as Meles did in many parts of Southern and Western Ethiopia as reported by reputable human rights organizations. He did not kill as many of his citizens nor did he turn an entire region into a gulag as Meles turned the entire region of Oromia as reported by HRW. Mughabe did not have thousands of university students imprisoned in torture camps at one time or another as Meles does it so often. Just compare the records of Mughabe and Meles as I just did. You will know Mughabe’s problem with the West has to do with the case of his White farmers that he took land from and distributed to the natives. Mr. Mughabe may be a dictator. I am sure Mr. Blair and President Bush cannot show us Mr. Mughabe has committed even 5 percent of what Meles Zenawi did as a dictator to deser ve their sanctions. I am not sure how much help we can get from hypocrisy filled West. I am afraid we have to slug it on our own.

The language with which the West expresses its condemnation of the recent massacre sounds like a sick joke. In all the statements they issued in criticism of Meles for the massacre, they also call on the opposition to desist, hold back, step back, exercise restraint etc. For any one that doesn’t know what exactly happened in Ethiopia, they make it look like the opposition and the peaceful demonstrators who were being dragged into prisons and murdered in cold blood were in a shoot out with the army and the Agaazi militia. It is as if that mother who was shot while trying to save her child was at war with Meles and the young man that was shot dead while attending his brother’s dead body was somehow shooting at the police. How was that MP elect of Arsi Negele going to exercise restraint when he was shot dead while having fun chatting with his friends under the shade of a tree? The world obviously is full of unfairness but now I know some places in the world are more unfair than others. I wouldn’t mind the kid glove treatment Meles gets from the West. But why can’t they at least stop sending him the supplies with which he is killing us?

Here is another thing that I did not know then but know now.

Honestly, I did not know or understand then why the TPLF/EPRDF has to move the capital of the State of Oromia from Addis Ababa to Adama -Nazret under gun point. When the capital was first moved to Adama- Nazret over 300 Oromo University students were dismissed from college with impunity for peacefully protesting the move. The leaders of the Mecha Tulema Association are still in prison for the same reason.

The OPDO and TPLF killed scores of students in Ambo and many parts of Oromia because of this. There was a reign of terror in the region of Oromia according to reports we were receiving then. Now only weeks afte r Addis Ababa chose the opposition CUD and while the state’s palace is still under construction in Adama, we are told the decision is reversed and the capital is moved back to Addis Ababa for the good of the Oromo people. I know, as many Ethiopians do, that there is no self respecting Oromo who would buy this cheap stunt. But contemplating the next move is very worrisome. The trick is to create an Amhara Oromo conflict so that the TPLF would be an on-looker and perhaps the arbiter. I am sure my Oromo brothers and sisters too would say not in my name and foil this cheap but satanic plan. No ethnic groups were involved when the TPLF decided to move the capital to Adama-Nazret and no one should have a problem with its moving back to Addis Ababa. I hope the plot would fail again as it failed in 1991 when there was an open call on government mass media to kill Amharas.

It only takes some fool to fall for this plot. The OPDO leaders who haven’t protected those students from dismis sal, who were instrumental in the disbanding of the respected Mecha Tulema Association that was not even banned under emperor Hailesillassie’s government and the imprisonment of its leaders, amaze me when they say they speak for the Oromo people.

Speaking of the Oromo people, I know there was widespread persecution of the Oromo who resisted the rule of TPLF/EPRDF over the last several years. I must confess I never knew entire Oromia has turned into such a huge gulag until I read the recent publication of Human Rights Watch, which also perfectly predicted that the Election was going to be a “hollow exercise”. I did not know that people were crammed into the gott and garree and forced to spy on one another. I did not know individuals in many parts of Oromia have to report to the gott or garree chief when they pass a night outside of their houses. As an Ethiopian I should have known better than HRW. I have lived and worked among the Oromo in Gibat and Mecha for some time in my l ife. I have seen and enjoyed Oromo generosity and kindness. They have saved my life from the red terror. I know they will give what they gave me to anyone irrespective of ethnic identity. I could not for the life of me see why they deserve to be treated like this. I feel their pain, I think, more than any OPDO member who claims to represent them. Believe me I do. I only wish I have some way of contributing to their fight.

Now I know why the leaders of the TPLF/EPRDF cannot handle arguments against the ideas listed in CUD’s Manifesto as much as their repeated attempt to make it look like an Amhara organization. By the way, some pathetic third rate foreign journalists and pundits including some of BBC’s and major foreign newspapers, have bought this crap. The TPLF/EPRDF people have forgotten that ideas like socialism, free market economy or individual rights or group rights are not ethnic specific. They have totally lost their faculty to see ideas outside of ethnicity. With e very passing day it is becoming clear that we are dealing with the most degenerate, reactionary, backward looking, and inept regime masquerading as progressive.

Now I know why there was a concerted effort including trumped up lies to make Professor Mesfin, a member of the CUD, a Tigrean hater and an Amhara ethnicist, tribalist or nationalist (take your pick). Don’t forget this is the man Meles himself accused at one time of saying there is nothing that can be described as Amhara ethnicity, nation or nationality in Ethiopia. Over the last several years, particularly since the TPLF inspired advent of ethnic politics in Ethiopia, there is perhaps no one like Professor Mesfin who worked hard to educate people against interethnic hatred. What his TPLF/EPRDF detractors don’t want us to know also is that he is intermarried with Tigreans and that he has Tigrean families. I have seen him at the throat of someone who said disgraceful things about our Tigrean brothers some years bac k. He was even accused of siding with TPLF at one time for speaking out against some fringe elements who confused the people of Tigrai with the TPLF. People of Tigrean ethnicity should know that such nauseating stories are concocted to garner their blind following into hated.

And now this is funny if you want to see it that way, but something that should make you cry if you are serious. I have heard pieces of leaflets were spreading in Addis Ababa agitating people to be hostile toward our Tigrean brothers and sisters living in the city. First I thought there could only be crazy people who are capable of doing this nonsense. I with a couple of my friends decided to do a research on this and made numerous calls to friends in Ethiopia to ask who could do such a thing. Interestingly all of people we asked have the same answer. And now I know who is doing this senseless thing. I never thought people will cross unbelievable thresholds to stay in power until I know this now. I on ly hope my Tigrean brothers and sisters wouldn’t give in to such ridiculous dirty tricks.

It is an open secret today that a large number of Tigreans have turned instant millionaires and beneficiaries because of their association with the TPLF and leaders of the TPLF. The disproportionate presence of Tigreans in government and positions of power is also very clear for every one to see. I don’t think the children of the Tigrean people fought and died to benefit some Tigreans at the expense of others. Ethiopians have every right to resent this unfairness; particularly under a government that tells us its reason of existence is the equality of all ethnic groups of Ethiopia. Resenting this unfairness should not be confused with being anti-Tigrean. It has another name. It is called hating injustice and corruption. It is the right thing to do and should not be confused with hating Tigreans.

The mass of the Tigrean people are not in this and I think they should stand up, joi n their brothers and sisters from other ethnic groups and say not in my name as most Amharas did against rulers who wanted the backing of the Amhara to stay in power in the past. Meles is more interested in staying in power than the welfare of the Tigrean people.

Now I reflected on another thing and came to know this. I heard many people say democracy is taking hold in Ethiopia. I have seen the election debates, the level of participation of the public in the election and concluded that Ethiopia has stepped up the ladder never to go back again. Many people I think are eluded into making this gross mistake as I did myself. Now I know that was pure illusion. Nothing has fundamentally changed in Ethiopia. Everything is superficial. Whatever changes we saw happened only when the TPLF/EPRDF thought it can use it to its advantage. It is like a lamp where the TPLF/EPRDF controls the switch. You can have demonstrations when it could show the good of the EPRDF side. You can shoot at demonstrators when you don’t like what they want. You can go elect your leaders but you must stay a minority. You can have freedom of _expression but don’t complain if you are killed or thrown into prison if you expose the TPLF. One day political parties are allowed to use the tax payer funded media. The next day they are denied altogether. As long as the people don’t have control of the control switch, any talk of democracy taking hold in Ethiopia or Ethiopia having come a long way from its past is an illusion. A change is a change only when there is some guarantee to make sure it won’t slide back. What is democratic about rights you use only at the pleasure of the party in power? What guarantee do we have to stop the TPLF to switch us back to the darkest days of the Zemene Mesafint if it so wants. What institution or deterrence do the Ethiopian people have to stop this? May be my wish to see a change in my country made me believe there is a change. I foolishly thought the d ays where government shoots at peaceful unarmed protestors is gone once and for all in my country. I thought the night time knockings of doors is going to be only a thing of the past. I was terribly mistaken. Now I know Ethiopia hasn’t moved an inch in the direction of democracy. Not even an inch.

If democracy is something I get when the rulers wish to give it to me and I have no way of claiming it myself, then I don’t see any reason why I need it. The so called “democratic process” that people have talked much about exists only in people’s minds and not in the real world. What democratic process are we talking about? Show cases? Why do I waste my time claiming I own something that I can lose any time and have no power to hold on to it? A constitution that contains democratic phrases that the government defies whenever it does not serve its purpose? A democratic process is essentially a process of empowering people and putting mechanisms to mitigate the power of governme nt. Show me where we have such a thing in Ethiopia today.

Now I know I have totally gotten it wrong. The goons in Ethiopia were giving us a so called democracy tied on the tip of a string. All the drama about election and the so called democratic process were meant to hoodwink the unsuspecting and easily to flatter ferenji. (Sorry People at HRW for lumping you in this).

Now we all need to know that people who need freedom and democracy have to make sure they fight for it and make it their own. They have to make sure they have a government that fears them and the law.

Arat killo
You are tooooooooooo late. Even hours .... I would advice you to
visit ehtiomedia.com. you will get such letters as soon it gets published.

Thank you for the advice, but city bird is telling me ethiomedia.com is the other walta, is that true?