A rebuttal to Dr Yonas Biru’s article (by Abawirtu)
Dear Dr Yonas,
TPLF, by its very nature, isn’t capable of honouring the Ethiopian constitutional order under Dr Abiy Ahmed. TPLF was given more than ample time to reconsider their archaic position; but to no avail. As you are aware, the Ethiopian government together with notable elders and renowned business people had been pleading with them for several months. That pleading was mistakenly taken and rendered fruitless when TPLF thugs did the unthinkable – massacring the unsuspecting Ethiopian soldiers in their sleep in the middle of the night.
The Ethiopian government must agree to stop the war? Look what happened after they unilaterally ceased fire and evacuated Tigray. How can one, in good faith, negotiate with thugs of such order? Didn’t TPLF actually brag about kicking out the government and no Ethiopian soldiers left tigray on his/her own free will? How can a democratically elected government of Ethiopia whose parliament denounced and labeled the thugs as “terrorists” renounce the charge against TPLF leaders and their cohorts? Wouldn’t that be like asking Alqaida leaders to negotiate with the Whitehouse?
Sir, there currently is no state government of tigray. The two legitimate appointees by the Abiy government as transitional administrators of Tigray have been sacked and members killed by TPLF or scaled back by the Ethiopian government in the hope of accentuating the cease fire. What we have is a very confused group of thugs scavenging on unsuspecting youth in the hope of establishing phase 2 apartheid hegemony all over Ethiopia at any cost. The west or their groups there of – EU, UN, USA- that you seem to favour to arbiter our unfortunate and pathetic situation are keen on keeping blind eyes on child soldiers. They actually seem encouraging it by their silence. The western media, in what seems a very calculated and callous approach, seem to hush on the ongoing recruitment of child soldiers in Tigray. If the west hasn’t lived up to its own principles of the sanctity of human lives; especially of children, how on earth can we trust entities like EU, US or even UN?
Sir, the national election of 2021 was conducted under the auspices of the NEB and rendered legitimate and binding under local and international laws. The 2020 regional election of Tigray was conducted and spear-headed by vigilante thugs who had cornered themselves in Meqele since 2018 to mastermind what we later discovered the mother of all betrayals – attacking our military from behind. How on earth can the federal government withdraw its sanctions from such terrorist organization lest negotiate with them? The economic and humanitarian crises abound, there is no valid and solid ground to “negotiate” with these people as their bargaining willpower will only skyrocket should the government consider this route. They honestly do not care for Tigraway lives lest rest of Ethiopia. Their track record of 30 years proves that beyond a shadow of doubt. Can you negotiate with the devil??
Dr Yonas, I commend your proposals and the time you have taken to detail your scholarly article on the predicament our country is in and heading into. I encourage scholars like you to organize panel discussions and explore these ideas further. From my humble and simple/layman observations, let me suggest few things that will, hopefully, bring all of us forward as Ethiopians. I am sorry, I don’t consider the TPLF as Ethiopians because they openly told us as such and their lackeys declared it in the open skies of the west loudly and unequivocally as non Ethiopians desecrating our most treasured national flag. One TPLF combatant actually favoured developing the barren Egyptian SINAI desert over our own province of Gojam – go figure. I actually don’t think they are literary from this planet anyway. By all Ethiopians, I meant to include the hardworking Tigrayans whose kids have been abducted in broad day light to sustain the insatiable appetite of the bloodthirsty planetless TPLF thugs.
1) ???? ???? ????????? ??????? ???????????? if they truly feel they are the real children of Tigray. No tigraway, however, would sacrifice his/her child for a meaningless war – a war without purpose.
?) ??? ????????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ????? ???????? ?????? – they should simply solidify their positions around the peripheries of afar, amara – including the recent returnees like welqayit and raya.
?) ????????? ???????? ???????’? ????? ????? ???? ?? ????????? ??? ?????????, ?????????? ????? ?? ???????????? ??????? ?????????? ??? ??? ???? – that route has seriously been exhausted and unproductive at this juncture. By the way, there is no such a thing as a state of tigray. Tigray is currently stateless and has been so since 2018 as a matter of principle. And TPLF has never ever been the legitimate administrator of Tigray nor Ethiopia. Let’s foremost accept this fact on the ground.
?) ????????? ??? ?????? ??? ?????? ??????? ????? ????????? ??????? ??????????? ?? ???????? ??? ???????? ?????????? ?? ??????. Allow legitimate aids while barring illegitimate outside surrogates of the TPLF from ever stepping on the soil of Tigray/Ethiopia
?) ??? ???? ???????????? ?? ?? ????? ???????? ??? ??????? ????? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ??? – ???? ??? ?????????????. I am still in shock as to their silence when TPLF is openly recruiting child soldiers to come back to power. Shame them. Expose their fakness to their unsuspecting citizens.
?) ??? ?????????? ?? ???????? ?????? ???????? ???? ??? ??????????? ????? ?? ????????????? ??? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ?????? ???????? ?? ????? ???? ????????. While I realize it is very hard to sift through who is a TPLF sympathizer and who isn’t , I pray there are few caring and sincere Tigraway Ethiopians like the amazing ????? ??????????? here and there. Perhaps give due protection to Araya with some sort of portfolio to gather his kinds to advance the case of Tigray. I have been disappointed by the likes of Arena guys and at this juncture, Araya can honestly assemble caring Tigrayan brothers and sisters who would sincerely work for Tigray and Ethiopia. Once we have this group organized, we will slowly do same among our own OLF brothers and sisters to pave the way for national dialogue (Obo Kejela Merdassa & Ibssa Negewo come to mind) South African style. We honestly do not need outside judges or onlookers as we, Ethiopians, have deep-rooted cultural mechanisms of mediations and interethnic reconciliations that we have been deploying since time immemorial.
?) ?????? ?? ?????, ???? ???? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ??s ??????? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??????? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ???????? ???????????? ???????? to help our unfortunate brothers/sisters of Tigray. I see this is the only way out of the unfortunate impasse the country is in.
God help us all!
With Respect,