Even though Moslems, who constitute half the population of the empire of Ethiopia, are treated like second class citizens, I am definitely against the slamization of the problem. I was born on both maternal and paternal side to a Muslim family of Ulamah. Yet I do honestly believe, using religious divide will ultimately serve only the Abyssinian hegemony, and encourage foreign intervention, a fact that must be clear to every rational person.
Among many oppressed nations, the two great religions, Islam and Christianity, do cross ethnic lines . Today peaceful coexistence of these two religions in the world is a must if we want to avoid sliding back to the dark age or even worse in this nuclear age. The real problem is that there are very powerful circles who use religion to divert attention from the real issues of social justice, from the problems of global capitalism. There are also those whose aspirations and claims are saved mainly by erecting walls and cultural barriers .
In short, what we in the Horn of Africa badly need is to move forwards not backwards. We need to develop science, technology, culture and positive world outlook. We need to tone down our petty national pride. We need to firmly oppose the misuse of religion in politics. We all need genuine democracy, not global capitalism that serves the interests of the few and spreads war. We need to learn from the experiences of the struggling peoples of Latin America.
Today more than at any other time in my life I do think that the Abyssinian empire-state- will be dismantled. This seems unavoidable. May be the sooner the better. It can happen peacefully. It depends on the degree of human awareness. If Ethiopia eventually falls apart it is not because of the narrow-minded nationalism of the oppressed nations within it; it is mainly because of the oppressive policies of the Amhara and Tigray rulers. In order to maintain their supremacy they have to resort from time to time to ethnic cleansing throughout the history of the empire. Only the world does not hear much about it because of media blackout. I had for long time unconsciously, I must admit, entertained the dream of reforming Ethiopia radically yet humanely. This was perhaps partly due to the fact that, as I said at the beginning, I did grow up in a relatively multi- cultural setting, and partly to the influence of leftist ideology on me. Anyway, I underestimated the Abyssinian rigid mentality, its arrogance and its immense contempt for other nations, especially for Moslems, its shamelessness in glorifying Ethiopia’s so called uniqueness in Africa. Ethiopia is one of the most miserable places in the world in almost every aspect despite its rich soil.. Abyssinian chauvinism is by far more irrational than Serbian ultra-nationalism. But again unfortunately the world does not see it .
Most of Amhara political elites do accuse TPLF of exposing the so-called Ethiopian unity to dangers. As a matter of fact TPLF is doing the task of keeping the empire together much better than any Amhara regime. Its new administrative division , its policies on languages and its constitution that allegedly respects the right to self-determination are series of events aiming at misleading and dividing the oppressed peoples in order to shore the empire up. Then why is the Amhara outcry? Having occupied the first position for so long they feel humiliated to accept the second position. It is not merely a matter of feeling. It is a question of losing privileges. In short the conflict between the two Abyssinian elites does not result from difference of strategy and it has nothing to do therefore with Ethiopian unity.. Basically it is a struggle for power.
Dismantling the Abyssinian empire can pave the way for better future for all peoples. Free peoples can decide, just as Europeans are doing, to come together in a voluntary way with the right structural and political guarantees in place. Herding enslaved peoples in a big prison that Ethiopia is and telling them that they are free is a mockery of human history. It must be clear from the outset that the Tigray and the Amhara nations have nothing to fear from the struggle of the oppressed nations. No one with a minimum degree of integrity among us can deny that the overwhelming majority of the Amhara and Tigray peoples are themselves victims of their own elites. It is true , they have never been exposed, like many of us, to military occupation, to cultural humiliation, to religious witchunt and discrimination. We are opposed to their ruling elites. Inasmuch as the peoples of Abyssinia dissociate themselves from the oppressive ideology of the Ethiopian empire, we must leave the door wide open for working with them at many important levels. We call upon their young and new generation to liberate themselves from suprematist, chauvinist and fanatic convictions and the dogma of an ancient and unique Ethiopia that does not apply strictly even to Abyssinia. Ethiopia is founded on lies and crimes against humanity, drawing constantly foreign powers into the cesspit of brutal politics. The Amhara elites do still refuse to accept solid facts on the ground..They are determined as ever to go on using an old technique that served them and only them in the past : the use of „ Ethiopia „ as a cover to hide their real ethnic identity, though it is an open secret today that almost all the organizations that call themselves Ethiopian are literally Amhara organizations. They believe still in their capacity to deceive the world. This at a time when oppressed nations are trying to raise their heads to assert their identities. Pretending constantly not to be as narrow – minded as the rest of us , the Amhara elites try to disqualify, criminalize and shame others who oppose national oppression, who insist on the rights of peoples to self determination . Their intellectual ideologues can radiate ease and actually impress foreigners who do not know them by their philosophical finesse and refinement.Whom do they impress with their audacity? In reality they expose their true identity by exposing themselves by themselves, trying to prove that they are better Ethiopians than others. Tigray intellectuals, to be fair, are by far more sensible, and pragmatic in this regard at least theoretically. We have seen from the days of the leftist student movement in the sixties and the seventies to the emergence of the TPLF how the Amhara elites dominated almost every political movement in Ethiopia..