What makes the ordeal of the Oromo people today terrible is not just what happens to us under the Abyssinian occupation in the tyrannical Ethiopia as much as our incapacity to clearly reshape or articulate the story we tell ourselves. We are in a crisis. Any crisis can be a great catalyst for deep reflection and mobilization of positive energies if we humbly admit it.
Our problem is letting go of false, idle and lazy expectations that bedevil the course of our struggle for liberation. The still ongoing Oromo protest movement is led mainly by peaceful, basically passive groups or political figures who wanted to reach accommodation within Ethiopia without challenging the ideology of discrimination on which it is founded, even at theoretical levels. Yet most of its leaders and members are still languishing in TPLF jails. With all his pretensions, Lemma Megersa cannot bring about the release of these peaceful, innocent and harmless individuals. Let their fate be yet another lesson to us all! If you want to reform or democratize the Abyssinian kingdom and empire this is the price you pay.
Why do we refuse to learn from our own past experiences? There is a reason. Let us dig and get to its bottom, on our own. Today in democratic Europe we see Catalonia’s bid for independence. In tyrannical Ethiopia most participants in the Oromo protest movement and its main propaganda organ abroad shy away from even mentioning the word “independence”. The Oromo question is degraded to the issue of common land grabbing and other simple administrative marginal demands. Is not our country in its entirety the property of the Abyssinian state?
What are the Tigray and Amhara ruling elites are up to these days? They live in constant panic and Angst as to the turn of events concerning the Oromo question despite their massive military arsenal. The amazing thing is, the number of the non-Oromos who claim to be Oromos, especially among the Amharas and Tigrayans, is on the increase. Just in case the international community calls one day for a referendum on the Oromo question they intend to vote as Oromos to sabotage our rights to self determination by holding the centrer stage with the help of their international allies, and their Oromo errand boys (stooges). Already the fake idea that the majority of the people of Ethiopia is of mixed ethnic origin is wide-spread among the Abyssinian population and their elites. Their main propaganda Organs including ESAT and Ethiomedia have been working on this for long time. Infiltrating the so-called qerro , if such a thing exists, will be part of their objectives, which is not really difficult in our disorganized conditions. Unfortunately, most of us Oromos often believe in non-existent organizations and leaderships for different reasons. It is partly to duck the responsibility and the risks of creating real ones…. What does Jawar Mohammed and his close associates say to all this, I wonder.
Our self-centred views of how we are victims and placing our attention too much upon what others- especially the Abyssinian elites and their international allies are thinking, saying and doing- expose us to immense emotional suffering. More anger, frustration and resentment will result from this despite all the Oromo media glitter. I believe in open loving kindness based on serious self enquiry while struggling for our liberation from the Abyssinian tyranny. It is such self examination that makes our mental power superior to the arrogant Abyssinian mentality of intrigues and repression.
But the Abyssinian tyranny has not been lacking in ideological refinements and pretensions from the outset. The range of its pretensions extend from theocratic underpinning to socialism to communism to democracy rhetoric. Paradoxically it has nothing to do with true religiosity or care for the working people or basic elementary human rights. It is a question of pure manipulation by highly organized militarist ethnic organizations determined to exercise uncontrolled power over others. Recently I read statements made long ago by an Irish writer who was an honest Christian. He is C.S. Lewis (November 29/1898- November 22/1963) His statements speak to our reality even today. Let me quote from it here: “ I am a democrat because I believe that no man or group of men is good enough to be trusted with uncontrolled power over others. And the higher the pretensions of such power, the more dangerous I think it both to the rulers and to the subjects. Hence theocracy is the worst form of all governments. If we must have a tyrant a robber baron is far better than an inquisitor. The baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point sated, and since he deemly knows he is doing wrong he may possibly repent. But the inquisitor who mistakes his own cruelty and lust for power and fear for the voice of Heaven will torment us infinitely because he torments us with the approval of his own conscience and his better impulses appear to him as temptations.” Does this not apply to the Abyssinian ruling elites, TPLF included, to say nothing of the theocracies of Saudi Arabia and Iran who are causing havoc and destruction in their region, all in the service of divisive international politics?
I am speaking from largely self imposed isolation. The attentive reader may find out the reason more clearly as he reads this article further. In my situation I do realize that the less I speak the better it is. The great German poet Rainer Maria Rilke did say, “ Be awake at all moments to the news/ That is always arriving out of silence.” From time to time I feel duty bound at least to spell my thinking on the vital issues to which I had devoted an important part of my life, alongside other dear comrades, now not living, to whose memories I dedicated this site to honour them as long as I live.
The greater part of the Oromo history within the Ethiopian empire is the history of self betrayal and self degradation.. It involves at subconscious levels the acceptance of divisive fallacies that have been imposed on us, diluting our normal thinking and identity even today. If we do not pay attention, our investments in grass-roots organizations, programs and projects inside and outside Oromia are not only useless but even harmful. We can break the cycle of self betrayal only if we dare to craft on our own on our soil a new creative narrative story of our struggle for human dignity outside the Abyssinian ideological frame of reference and its equation.
To achieve our vital aims, we must be driven by an inner dynamic, not mere propaganda from outside. Flexible political and organizational work must be self-propelled on the ground inside Oromia. It must be a lifetime work, no matter how small. It has nothing to do with an academic glamour. Before we do this, we must pause to check the herd instinct that makes us all rush in the same wrong direction making unnecessary sacrifice for petty gains without individually reflecting our ultimate aim- to be free from the arrogant Abyssinian hegemony and create our own democratic institutions. Let each of us ask him/herself, why should I follow individuals or leaderships whose attachments to Ethiopia outweigh their attachment to the oppressed peoples? Why create in the simple minded masses unreasonable expectations and confusions? We can find answers to our practical problems only if we are willing to challenge and rethink our easy assumptions through self inquiry and open discussion. Let us not forget for one moment that the spirit (mind) is mightier than the sword. Let us not wring our hands in despair if we make mistakes. We can always learn something refreshing, even when alone. The point is to learn from our mistakes and failures, and not to regret them with feelings of guilt and sin.. Finally, our suffering under the Abyssinian tyranny should not limit our innate capacity for joy as well. Let us go out as often as possible and breathe fresh air wherever we are to fill the cells of our bodies with purity and well-being. I wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
I close with this beautiful poem that I got from “Renewal of the Moon”
I lift my eyes to the hills:
heaven and earth are my comforts.
By day the sun does not harm me,
by night the moon is my guide.
It renews its light
for those just beginning,
who will one day find
their own renewal.
May the moon
be as praised as the sun
and all be equal
as when we began.