FREEDOM IS TO BE WON! ARE WE SERIOUSLY READY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN NOW, NOT LATER?

September 1, 2014

by T.Goshu
I want to start by making myself clear that this opinion of mine has an intention of neither being pessimistic nor undermining the efforts being made by genuinely concerned citizens in Ethiopia and Ethiopians residing almost in all parts of the world. I sincerely believe that with all the serious challenges we Ethiopians have to face as the result of the agenda and practice of the tyrannical ruling elites, and the very unacceptable level of weaknesses and terrible failures we have come across for the last quarter of a century; the relentless efforts of Ethiopians in decrying the horrifying political and socio-economic situation in our country deserve due recognition and appreciation.
However, when it comes to the very challenging question of to what extent we have moved forward to defeat the greatest enemy of our political freedom, socio-economic justice and human dignity; not to admit that we are still victims of a very ugly political vicious circle would not only be wrong but it would also be self-deceiving. Yes, I want to strongly argue that the politics of avoidance of critical inward-looking and genuine self-criticism is as bad as, if not much worse than what the ruling elites do to our country and her people. I reasonably and strongly argue that if we are serious enough about how to make a significantly meaningful difference hereafter, we have to be courageous enough to deal with this very critical inward -looking aspect of our struggle. Why? Because that is the way it should be if our struggle should successfully get rid of a very chronic political illness caused by an ethnic-based and tyrannical ruling circle of TPLF/EPRDF, and if we have to establish a society that should be characterized by the existence of genuine freedom, sustainable peace and development. Needless to say, that is the way it should be if freedom should be won, not to be begged for!
It goes without saying that the very value of freedom is so deep and precious which cannot be won, be sustained and constantly be enriched without defeating those who are stupidly trying to convince (better to say fool) us that the very interests of the government they control and peoples’ or national interests are one and the same. Yes, they idiotically are trying to fool us that the opportunities and fruits of the country are fairly available to both millions of children who are starving to death, and their (ruling elites’) children who are lavishly enjoying their lives thanks to the evil –driven system created and controlled by their “great” parents and cronies. The manner in which the death of the “great leader” (the late Ato Mels Zenawi) was mournfully attended two years ago and his subsequent annual memories of his “great legacy” were and are typical cases in point how the people of Ethiopia are being forced to believe the ruling elites’ fictitious and stupidly cynical picturing of a personal cult of their “indispensable brain- father” (Ato Meles Zenawi). Simply put, the innocent people of Ethiopia are being forced not to think about the miserable situation they continue to face let alone to speak out about it and demand for the right to exercise their fundamental human dignity. They are being dehumanized to the extent of denying the horrible experiences they continue to face in their day-to-day lives. They are being dehumanized to the extent of believing that all the horrifying situations they continue to face have nothing to do with the evil-driven political agenda and practice of the ruling elites. Sadly enough, they (the people) are being inundated with a terribly disturbing propaganda that they should be grateful/thankful to the continuation of “the legacy of the great leader of not only the century but also in the history of Ethiopian.” This is an extremely worrisome situation where we found ourselves. And it is from this very hard reality that we have to face the very challenging question of winning genuine freedom through a well-informed, well- awakened, well- organized, well- coordinated and above all well-strategized political actions by all genuinely concerned opposition forces that must also be reinforced and empowered by vigorous and enormous public participation.
Needless to say, for us it would be terribly wrong to continue politics as usual instead of engaging the stupidly ruthless authorities of TPLF/EPRDF with a new dimension of struggle. Simply put, our culture of the politics of blame game, disintegration of opposition forces, political rhetoric /theorization that could not be accompanied by a real sense of deeds has to seriously be reconsidered and change.
Yes, the politics of mere lamentation (regret and sorrow) about the untold sufferings of the people because we badly failed to seize ample opportunities for the last couple of decades will not make sense anymore and will not take us anywhere. What would really make sense and could bring about a desired difference is to pull our resources and energies together and take a new and irreversible dimension of struggle, and to win the freedom we desperately aspire for. And I reasonably argue that the new dimension has to start from a genuine and harsh rethinking and criticism about the opportunities we have terribly missed for the last two decades because of senseless tug of war between or among political groupings, or between and among leaders of opposition forces. Yes, we need a new dimension of doing politics that must not lose the very common strategy and destiny. Yes, our long-term objective (destiny and fate) should never be compromised with the tactic (techniques and maneuvers) we use to achieve our truly shared/common destiny as a people. Let us be honest enough with ourselves that the unacceptable level of selfishness (egoism) of some leaders of the opposition force has made the people pay unnecessarily huge price and has contributed to the continuation of the untold sufferings. This kind of difficult to comprehend and repeated failure have made us go back to square one for the last quarter of a century.
This will definitely take us to another critically challenging question: How many opportunities should we terribly miss? And how many Andargachews should we lose or get sacrificed before we take the fight for freedom deep into the comfort zone of the ruthless ruling circle of TPLF/EPRDF? How many innocent journalists, political opposition party members, human rights activists and thousands of innocent citizens should be victims of a dramatized state- terror before we come together and act together and win our fundamental freedom, and live under a real sense of togetherness? How many innocent children and families of victims of the ruthless ruling party such as Andargachews , Eskindirs, Eryots, Andualems , Nathnaels, Bekele /Gerbas, Olbana /Lelissas, Abubekers, Habtamus, Yeshwases, Daniels, Abrahas and thousands of other peace and freedom-loving Ethiopians should experience very miserable situations before we take our courses of struggle to the point where we should decisively win our freedom? Yes, I understand well that it is an ABC of politics that the struggle to create a democratic society is a process, not just an event. For that matter, democracy by itself is a political system that is taken as the best of all other alternative systems, not with the assumption and belief that it is free from its own messy elements. But I strongly want to argue that being oppressed to the extent of the being deprived of exercising the very natural rights, being victims of senseless intimidation/harassment, being victims of arbitrary detention/arrest, being victims of a politically dramatized verdict, being exposed to brutal torture, and being victims of a political killing machine for a quarter of a century is absolutely unacceptable. Simply put, this kind of political evilness has nothing to do with the process we normally accept and tolerate. It is from this point of view that it would be a very nonsensical way of doing politics to use the very concept of “process” as an excuse as far as the very horrible political crime being committed in Ethiopia is concerned. Yes, what we are witnessing in our country is not a process as we normally do know. It is rather a deadly political madness this generation must collectively and decisively deal with in a real sense of urgency.
It is with this kind of rationally- approached and courageously- determined way of doing things that it would be possible for this generation not only to live a dignified way of life for itself, but could also pave the way for the creation of much better way of life for the generations to come. Needless to say, this is not a mission to be accomplished with simple way of doing things. There is no such thing in every walk of life leave alone dealing with the politics of a country which has never experienced a democratic way of life throughout its political history, and particularly the politics of ethnic -division and ethnic – hatred for the last quarter of a century. But, we cannot and should not afford not reverse this evil-driven political game of TPLF and its cronies. And I sincerely argue that if the very dangerous alarm we are loudly hearing and painfully witnessing at this moment in time could not make us genuinely and seriously listen to each , understand what we do mean to each other, and subsequently walk and act together ; we will be losing more ample opportunities and will terribly be lost . Is this not what the small- minded and cynical ruling elites of TPLF and their cronies want to see? Absolutely it is. Why? Because for them the prevalence of genuine freedom and real practice of socio- economic fairness and reign of justice is meant the end of their abusive power which manifests itself in committing serious assault on democracy itself.
Noam Chomsky, in his book, Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy (2006) argues:

As in the past, rights are not likely to be granted by benevolent
authorities , or won by intermittent actions – attending a few
demonstrations or pushing a lever in the personalized quadrennial
extravaganzas that are depicted as “democratic politics.” As always,
in the past, the tasks require dedicated day-by-day engagement
to create – in part re-create – the basis for a functioning democratic
culture in which the public plays some role in determining policies,
not only in the political arena, but also in the crucial economic arena
from which it is excluded in principle. There are many ways to promote
democracy at home, carrying it to new dimensions. Opportunities are ample,
and failure to grasp them is likely to have ominous repercussions: for the country,
for the world, and for future generations.

To my understanding, this argument of author Chomsky strongly and vividly reflects our own situation. Yes, it goes without saying that freedom can only won by the people themselves, never granted by those “benevolent rulers” leave alone the terribly tyrannical and deadly selfish ruling elites like “ours” (TPLF/EPRDF.)
Yes, freedom can never be achieved merely by organizing and staging reactive, emotion-driven and symptom-fighting style of struggles. Simply put, without effectively organized/coordinated, concrete and incrementally result-oriented actions; events such as demonstrations, public gatherings, and talks about talks would never bring about the very deadly political agenda of TPLF to its end and secure our freedom. The disparity between our words and deeds has to be bridged appropriately, timely and with a well-built level of strength.
Yes, the very self-defeating mentality of avoidance of rational and straight-forward criticism among ourselves (as a people), an unacceptable level of fear which unfortunately makes us victims of self-imprisonment have a lot to do with the continuation of political servitude and incredible level of socio-economic quagmire. We cannot and should not unnecessarily be shy of engaging ourselves as a people in critical, rational, respectful, constructive, and straight-forward criticism. It is true that history creates its own heroes of freedom, and we obviously are fortunate enough to have truly patriotic compatriots like the ones I mentioned above. The question, we have to face once again is: To what extent we have been willing and able to make those patriotic Ethiopians accomplish the historic mission they have come up with? How far we have gone beyond reactive and emotion-driven cry each time they (our patriotic compatriots) have become victims of an ugly and deadly political game of the TPLF/EPRDF? Unless we want to be dishonest with ourselves, our answers to these and many other similar questions could not be reasonably convincing let alone satisfactorily positive.
The inner circle elites of TPLF/EPRDF who control every aspect of the political machine and economic resources know very well that those truly patriotic Ethiopians are the real threats for the perpetuation of their deadly political power; and they (the ruling elites) have to unleash their miserably merciless sword and keep those heroes and heroines silent, if not eliminate them .That is exactly what has happened for the last two decades and continued to happen in our country. That is why the question of creating and building public awareness, organizing unbreakable/decisive civil disobedience, designing and using all available methods of struggle does critically matter at this moment in time. Simply put, it must clearly be underscored here that the very cynical and brutal ruling circle believes that if it keeps those patriotic figures “isolated” from the people by any harsh and deadly means, the people of Ethiopia will remain disorganized and silent and will continue to be simple subjects of the dehumanizing political game and devastating socio-economic policies.
Putting the question of whether it would work or not aside, we are witnessing the very dangerous political tactic being carried out by inner political gangs of TPLF in collaboration with its brain- children of (ANDM, OPDO, SEPDF and all other groups in servitude) right before the coming election that is about eight months away. TPLF and all its cronies have convinced themselves that they would definitely and decisively be challenged in the would-be conducted election and it is imperative for them to crackdown any perceived and actual opponent before the election. TPLF/EPRDF knew that the merciless sword unleashed by the late Ato Meles Zenawi may result in a serious back fire both within the country as well as in terms of international politics. It therefore has convinced itself that silencing the people by suppressing and eliminating those patriotic organizing forces with all kinds of dirty/deadly politically motivated actions is the best weapon it has left with. And sadly enough, the inner circle of the ruling party has geared this evil-driven instrument to a matter of its demise or survive. There is no doubt that the ruling elites sounded being in a state of relief when they abducted Ato Andargachew Tsige in collaboration with their counter parts in Yemen, and when they made him appear on one of their deadly propaganda machine (ETV) . When later realized that they not only terribly failed but they also made the people of Ethiopia unprecedentedly rallied around the right cause of Ato Andargachew Tsige, their madness has gone dangerously wild.
In the final description and analysis of all kinds of crises we are facing, the question of how to reverse them matters most. In this regard, I want to jot down certain issues and concerns that are not of course new but necessarily deserve persistent and serious attention of our hearts and minds. Here they are:

a) A mutual understanding as citizens, as organized groups in one form or another, and as a people in general about the very nature and behavior of the ruling party is absolutely necessary. To my understanding, though the very nature, behavior and action of the ruling party has never been unclear not so long after it took power, its political madness during and after the 2005 elections has totally unmasked its monstrous nature and behavior. This very unfortunate political situation has now become absolutely intolerable. Yes, there is a bottom line for tolerance in every aspect of our socio-political interactions let alone the evil-driven political agenda that seriously endangers the very survival of the country and the very social and historical fabrics of her people. If there is any kind of confusion in this regard, it is nothing but like a firing a bullet without any target or aim. If our aim is achieving a real sense of freedom, there is an absolute need to have a crystal -clear and rational common understanding about what and who is distracting and blocking our way to freedom.

b) This leads us to the second logical and rational point of focus. And that is the question of whether we keep regurgitating the deadly political agenda and practice of the inner circle of TPLF and its cronies, or we do pull our energies, resources, and most importantly our selfless courage together and stop the danger we are facing as a people. Well, exerting our appropriate efforts in decrying the day-to-day political crime being committed in our country and preparing ourselves accordingly is the right thing to do. The problem is when we waste our energies and resources (financial, material, human, intellectual…) on more talks about the self-evident political game of the ruling elites. And these culture of talking more, but doing little will lead us to the bankruptcy of leading our desirable political activities in line with a well-defined and strategized way of doing things. Simply put, let’s argue and talk, but let our actions speak much more louder than our words. That is the way in which genuine freedom should be won.

c) I think our arguments and counter- arguments on the question of the tactical application of the struggle for the realization of democratic Ethiopia is not only unnecessarily stretched, but getting more harmful than helpful. And this refers to the much distorted approach to the very question of peaceful or armed, or both. To my understanding, to try to put the two as diametrically opposite or absolutely non-complementary particularly in the political reality of our country is nothing, but a terrible distortion. I sincerely believe that any Ethiopian with his or her right mind does not choose all-round struggle over peaceful or non-armed struggle. The question is not merely the question of morality or a mere desire of seeing dreams becoming true. Given what went wrong for the last quarter of a century in our country, we desperately need a very realistic methods of political struggle that should effectively challenge the political reality in our country. Should we be concerned about the unintended consequences of a struggle that includes armed struggle? Yes, we have to. Is there any anything we can do about it to minimize, if not avoid our serious concern? Definitely! We can and we should make genuine and relentless efforts that can mitigate our serious concern. How? By engaging ourselves in critical and constructive conversation on the issue of how to prevent the undesirable consequences which may surface after the defeat of the incumbent ruling party. Simply put, engaging in genuine and courageous discussions as well as in designing certain feasible road maps is absolutely necessary to keep the all-round struggle on a democratic track. I want to believe that that was and is what makes Ato Andargachew Tsgie a truly patriotic political figure.

d) I want to argue that the culture of positioning ourselves on two extreme political state of minds – for or against Ethiopian identity must be addressed and challenged critically, rationally, tolerably and above all constructively. One thing must be clear in this regard. That is to say that these kinds of undesirable conflicts of identity are parts of our political history though the current ruling elites have badly manipulated and exploited them for their own wicked political purposes. I do not think we could and should resolve these undesirable elements of our political history with negative and hate campaign; or by asking one side to surrender to the interests of the other side. It requires a wisely critical and constructive engagement that could bring the two extremes to the middle. Needless to say, that is the way it should be if we are truly serious about creating a society that makes sustainable peace within itself and enjoy the politics of freedom for all.

e) With regard to the role of external factors, there is a need to constantly remind ourselves that despite the fact that those foreign powers (‘donors”) do know about the situation in Ethiopia not less than we ourselves do know, they are not willing/interested to do something meaningful about it. They know very well that their financial and other forms of assistances they provide to an ethnic-based dictatorial government are used to abuse power and arrest any movement for democratic change and freedom. They, on the one hand keep their partnership with the tyrannical government of TPLF/EPRDF (their bad guys), and on the other hand they keep showing their lip services about the suffering of the people. We repeatedly hear echoes of empty words, “we are seriously concerned”. It goes without saying that this kind of political game will continue until the people of Ethiopia not only decry this unfortunate but hard reality but also decisively proof that they do mean what they mean as far as the struggle they fight for is concerned. I am not saying reminding those “donors “not to side with tyranny but with the people is not important. What I am trying to say is that doing something that could effectively shake the balance of power on the ground back home will definitely change business as usual . I wish the reality of international politics could work otherwise. But that is not way it works. Not only political history but also the contemporary international politics is not short of this kind of very unfortunate political game. That powerfully tells us that freedom should be won with. The rest will follow accordingly!

f) Although I am well aware that many fellowmen and women may feel uncomfortable with, I couldn’t help but say about it in a very few words. And it is about an appropriate contribution that should be made by our religious leaders and those who claim themselves the servants/messengers of the great teachings of their respective religions.

I first sincerely want to recognize and admire the persistent, legitimate and peaceful protests of fellow Muslim Ethiopians. I also want to believe that although this movement for religious and all other legitimately related freedoms seems slowing down momentarily, I hope that it will never lose its right track. It is my strong believe that it will integrate itself with the wide scope of the struggle for the realization a democratic Ethiopia in which all her citizens live with freedom and dignity.
I hate to say but I have to say that I really do not believe that leaders, teachers/preachers and other members of the clergy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church which I belong to are doing what they are supposed to do both from the perspective of making the great teachings of Jesus Christ meaningfully relevant to the untold sufferings of the people; and as citizens who should share the severe pain of the people because of the total absence of respect for fundamental human rights. Do not get me wrong that I am making a very blind generalization that disregards the very inspiring participation by some leaders and clergymen of the Church. What I am trying to say is that it is not untrue that the majority of them are either parts of the dirty political game of TPLF/EPRDF, or they choose to remain silent in the name of neutrality or under the cover of “being purely religious” which is a kind of very clumsy excuse. I strongly believe that the great teachings of Jesus Christ and His disciples (apostles) and all other martyrs were and are powerfully and inherently related with the very essence of the struggle for the prevalence of genuine freedom and human dignity. Do we really feel spiritually satisfied because we do pray, fast, offer mass services, and telling about and listening to the great verses of the Great Book? I do not believe so. I sincerely believe that it is when we say what we mean and when we do what we say that we can contribute to the struggle that could end what we preach as evil behaviors and acts. Are we witnessing this kind of genuine and courageous engagement and dedication at this critical moment in time? I do not think the answer would be truly positive. Do I hope that things will change for the better? I optimistically do hope they would!
Let me conclude my opinion by saying that our desire to live with full exercise of freedom and human dignity and socio-economic justice desperately requires to fight for it and win it, neither to beg for it nor wait for it to happen. And no doubt that the time is now, not tomorrow!