By E. M. Akele
The minority regime in Ethiopia, led by the TPLF has already started responding violently to the peaceful demands of Amharas who demanded the “Wolekite Committee” leaders who have been abducted two weeks before to be released immediately and their identity as Amhara to be recognized according to the constitution.
Following today’s spontaneous support rally at the court where Colonel Demeke Zewdu, one of the Committee members who successfully thwarted his abduction by the TPLF, appeared was violently dispersed by security forces. Two persons identified by their first name as Solomon and Sintayehu were shot dead and many more sustained wounds from bullets, reliable resources indicate.
TPLF since its creation is a narrow ethno-nationalist party that struggles to secede part of Tigray from Ethiopia. In an effort to establish the Tigrian Republic the party in its manifesto of 1967 E.C has declared parts of the current Amhara, Eritrea and Afar regions to be annexed to give the new republic an international border and fertile land to sustain itself. These are the real motives to annex the Wolkite and Tslemt areas of the Amhara people.
Before 1991 TPLF, with the aim to change the demographic composition of these regions, has carried out several untold atrocities against the Amharas who inhabited the areas. In addition to the extrajudicial killing and disappearance and arranged forced marriages of Amhara women with Tigrians, a recent study by human rights activist in the region has exposed the crime that the regime used modern medicines to cause infertility among the Amhara women to reduce demography of the Wolkite natives and the Amhara people in general.
They have also resettled more than a million ex-combatants who are fully armed to control the area under their hegemony. These has created a strong resentments among the Amharas who lost their properties and becomes a second citizen in the land of their ancestors. They are forced to denounce their identity in order to get services provided by the regional government of Tigray. Such gross violation of Human and Democratic rights have inspired the Wolkite people to demand their identity as Amhara should be recognized and be reunited with the Amhara region.They have the mandate from the people to signed a petition to the House of Federation to look in to the matter.
The people of Amhara have staged massive protest to request the Government to peacefully Settle the issue. Despite several attempts to follow all legal means by involving the parliament and House of federations, an institution deals with identity and inter regional border issues, the regime considered the questions raised by the Wolkite Committee as an attempt to destabilize the federation. Such horrendous labeling of protesters as a terrorist act inspired by Eritrea is the regime’s old tactic for externalizing domestic problems. The Wolkite Committee members are a well known and highly respected members of the society that are tasked to present the people’s grievances to the government.
The regime which is fractured by gargantuan corruption and popular discontent and pressures from various ethnic groups have increasingly depended on security and military forces. Such isolation and loss of legitimacy have created a persistent fear in the minority that eventually may lead to civil war.
EPRDF, a coalition of four regional parties is dominated by the TPLF who have created its three surrogates after its own like. The three parties, according to complies from the other coalition members, are run by individuals assigned from TPLF.
By E. M. Akele, August 5, 2016, Toronto, 2016
