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The growing popular call of ‘’ ይኣክል! كفى! -- Enough is Enough ‘’ to the cruelties of the Asmara regime by waves of Eritreans at home and abroad is a real threat – probably the final blow – to  Isaias Afeworki’s several decades old dictatorship. And when the threat is real, Isaias Afeworki always uses religion and external enemies as his most trusted and so far effective weapons to fight back.

Dictator Isaias did this in a subtle manner throughout his political life extending to a half century. Recent examples are how he and his clique distorted and manipulated the 2013 incident of an Eritrean army unit led by Wedi Ali and that of a private Islamic school of the great patriot, nonagenarian Haji Mussa, in 2017. May their souls rest in peace.

To again try to use that weapon, the one-man dictatorship’s Ministry of misinformation released on 3 April 2019 yet another official lie. The released statement aimed to win back regime’s former gullible listeners by trying to tell them that Eritrean Muslims and their co-religionists in the region are their enemies. What a shame, and what a shameless regime!!

The Eritrean dictator is not a religious person. He has no religion. Yet, he until this year  knew how to play around religions in order to survive and stay in power.  

The 3 April statement by the Eritrean authorities said that enemies of Eritrea are re-organizing ‘’the obscure ‘Eritrean Muslim League’ under the mantle of ‘Eritrean Ulama’s League/Eritrean Rabita-i-Ulama.’’

But why now mention a non-existing Eritrean Muslim League in connection with the formation of a civic organization of Arabic speaking Eritrean intellectuals who have all the right to form such an association?

In simpler terms, the evil regime in Asmara wanted to invoke the word ‘’Rabita’’ – an innocent Arabic word that means ‘league’ or association – in a desperate attempt  to create new a bogyman, a new  enemy at a time when Ethiopia and its ‘Woyane’’ are no more enemies.

Only to stress, it is quite clear to the majority of Eritreans today that the PFDJ statement wanted to appeal to the erroneous and distorted perception built long ago around the Arabic phrase ‘Rabita Islamia’  for the Eritrean Muslim League of the 1940s which, to many elements opposed to Eritrean nationhood at that time, was an organization of ‘traitors’ allied with enemies of ‘‘Christian Eritrea and Ethiopia.’’ But will that Isaias -- that old master of deception -- succeed to use religion also this time round? Measuring by the political climate building around the call for ‘’Enough is Enough’’, one can assume that the vast majority of Eritreans today are of the belief that he will not succeed.

For the sake of the new Eritrean generation, one should repeat affirming the truth that ‘Rabita Islamia’ or the Eritrean Muslim League of the 1940s was not a negative force, as the dictator in Asmara and his fast dwindling clique repeated and in different forms wanted to mislead people. The Eritrean Muslim League was a great patriotic organization that can claim a lion’s share in the history of the slow and costly growth of Eritrean national awareness. It was around the love for a national Eritrean flag, a National Assembly, an Eritrean constitution with democratic rights, among others,  that Eritrean nationhood was built. The great patriots of the day, on top of them Woldeab Woldemariam and Ras Tessema Asberom, were the closest friends of the Eritrean Muslim League and its energetic nationalist leader, Ibrahim Sultan Ali.

Only to cut a long story short, I will quote below excerpts from my own article posted in Eritrean websites on 19 November 2000, sub-titled: From the Satanic Utterances of Isayas:

‘’… by his own admission, Ibrahim Sultan had to name his party after Islam ("al RabiTa al Islamia"), not because of his religious belief but because he and his group of militants found it the only easy and feasible way of rallying the majority of the Eritrean Moslems for independence [at a time when Ethiopia was winning their compatriots through religious appeal]. Al RabiTa al Islamia was not a party of religious fanatics as detractors insinuated. To my knowledge, Eritrean Moslems have never been fanatics, and in general, never deserved that epithet [to be called fanatics]…… In recent years, when political Islam mobilized masses for fundamentalist wars elsewhere, Eritrean Moslems continued to give deaf ears to any call for Jihad, a stillborn movement in our country, whose nominal existence was aided and abetted by the actions and omissions of the regime in Asmara.

‘’To stress, we never came near to religious strife save the infinitesimal incidents of 1949-50, which were the making of foreign powers, Ethiopia included.  Yet, there have been satanic writings and teachings by Eritreans repeatedly used to make believe that we had ugly mass murders, genocides and ethnic cleansing of worst degrees in contemporary history. [Read this shocking quotation by you-know-who]:

’If I were not aware of our own situation, I would have described the grisly mass murders in Somalia, Rwanda, former Yugoslavia and Liberia as barbaric crimes perpetrated by backward peoples. I would have said 'we are different, we are not like them'. But what we had gone through in Eritrea was not different from what is going on in other countries. We in Eritrea suffered mass murders, one ethnic and geographic group cleansing the other in a cowardly and inordinate manner. We have now come a long way from that past, and the present and future generations [in Eritrea] who had not seen what we did would be surprised of what is going on in Somalia, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Liberia. The surprise comes because they did not know what had happened in our country. Seen from this angle, it would appear that the present and future generations would benefit from knowing about it. But unless done in a constructive way, making the new generation aware of a black spot in its history is a bit difficult’.

‘’If you [reader] had forgotten or if you are not aware of who said this and when, you better be reminded. The words were uttered by the Eritrean president, Isayas Afeworki, 'proudly' speaking to issue volume 1, number 1 of Reporter, an Amharic language magazine of Addis Ababa published in September 1997. The message was very clear - as clear as a similar poisonous messages he conveyed [in the long past]. …’’

To conclude, this quick writing and the excerpts from a lengthy old article cannot fully depict how much the current dictator in Eritrea has been working hard to divide Eritreans on religious and other bases. However, the time has come that he will not make it. At least I believe so.

ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብ ዝተፈላለየ ዓሌት፥ መበቆልን፡ እምነታትን ዝተመስረተ እዩ። እቲ ዝሓለፎ ተኸታታሊ መግዛእታዊ ስርዓታት ከኣ  ኣሉታዊ ኣሰራትን ስምብራትን ሓዲጉሉ  እዩ። ሎሚ፡ ናጽነቱ ተጎናጺፉ ከብቅዕ ብሰንኪ ምልኪ ቀሲኑ ክነብር ኣይከኣለን።  ነቲ ጨቋንኡ ስርዓት ንምልጋስ እውን ብቑዕ ናይ ኣተሓሳስባ ለውጢ ክገብር ኣይከኣለን። በዚ ምኽንያት እቲ ምልካዊ ስርዓት ነቲ ኣውራጃዊ፥ ብሄራዊ፥ መበቆላውን፥ እምነታትን ብዝተፈላለየን ስውርን መገዲ ኣብ ረብሓኡ ከውዕሎ ህርድግ ይብል።

ይኹን እምበር ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ምስ እዚ ኩሉ ናይ ብሄርን፥ ባህልን፥ ወይ እውን እምነታትን ፍልልያትን  ኣብዛ ንእሽቶ ሃገር ሓቢሩን ተኸባቢሩን ንዓመታት ዝነበረ ህዝቢ ምዃኑ ዝከሓድ ኣይኮነን። ልክዕ እዩ ብሰንኪ  ውልቀመላኺ ስርዓት ነቲ ሓባራዊ ሃገራዊ መንነትን ስምዒትን  ዝተጠርየ ናብ ወወገኑ ከድህብ ክገብሮ ይፍትን ከምዘሎ ግን ንስሕቶ ኣይመስለንን።

ምልካዊ ስርዓት፡  ኩሉ ግዜ ፈላሊኻ ግዛእ ዝብል ኣምር ስለዝኽተል፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራው’ን ካብዚ ጽልዋ እዚ ናጻ ክኸውን ኣይኽእልን። ብኡ መሰረት እነሆ እኳ ነቲ ሕብረተሰብ ዝፋቕሮን ተጣሚሩ ሃገራውን ፖለቲካዊን  ውህደት ንኸይንፈጥር ክንሰማማዕ ኣይከኣልናን። እዚ ንኹልና ብገለ ስምዒታት ተደሪኽና ናብ ዘይከወን ኣቕጣጫ ክንእምት ዝደፋፍኣና ምኽያት ኣሎ። ንሱ ድማ  እቲ ናይ ባህሊ፥ ብሄርነት፥ ዘርእነት (ethnicity) እምነት ዝነቐለ ፍልልያት ኣነ ተወጻዕኩ፥ ወይ ተሃሰኹ ካብ ዝብሉ ስሚዒታት ኣብቲ ሓቢርካ ናይ ምንባርን ሓቢርካ ምሕሳብን ዝፈጥሮ  ጸገም እዩ። እዚ  ንነፍሲ ወከፍ ኣካል ሕብረተሰብ ንወገኑ፥ ንኣውራጃኡ፥ ንብሄሩ ንሃይማኖቱ ወይ እውን ባህሉ ልዕሊ ኩሉ ገይሩ ንኽጥምት ይግደድ። እዚ ኣተሓሳስባ እዚ ምጥርጣራትን ዘይምትእምማንን፥  ኣግላልነትን፥ ኣድልዎን ኣብ መንጎ ሕብረተሰብ ይፍጠር እሞ፥  ነቲ ሃገራዊ መንነትን ሃገራዊ ሓድነትን ይዘርጎ። እዚ ስምዒት እዚ ምስ ዝዕብልል ከኣ ነቲ ናይ ብሄራት ይንኣሳ ይዕበያ፥ እምነታትን፥ ባህልታትን ብዘየገድስ ተጣሚረን ንኸይጎዓዛ  ዝገትእ ይኸውን።

እዚ እምበኣር እቲ ንኹሉ ብማዕረ ዝርኢ  ብቑዕ ምሕደራ ኣብ ምምስራት ሓደገኛ ተራ ይህልዎ። ከይዱ ከይዱ ድማ ነቲ ሓባራዊ ሃገራዊ መንነታዊ መለለይታት ፍሒቑ ዘርኣዊ፥ ብሄራዊ መንነት ናብ ምቅላሕ ገጹ ሃሰስ ክብል ይጅምር። ኣብ ከምዚ ግዜ ፖለቲካዊ ውህደት ይሰኣን እሞ ነቲ ስልጣን ብዘይኣገባብ ናይ ምጥቃም ኣንፈት ብምሓዝ ሓባራዊ ጠመተን ምቅርራብን ናይቲ ሕብረተሰብ የመዛብሎ። በዚ ምኽንያት ኣብ ምፍልላያትን፥ ኣብ ወገነይን ወገንካን… ወዘተ ይሕምብስ። ብኡ ኣቢሉ ከኣ ሓባራውን ንሃገራዊ ረብሓ ዘማዕብልን ሓሳብ ንጎኒ ተሪፉ፥ ዘተኣማምን ቅሳነትን ስኒትን ይጠፍእ።  በዚ ዝኣክል ነፍሲ ወከፍ ነናቱ ኣገባብን ኣተሓሕዛን ተረድኦን ክውንንን፡ ንሱ ብዝኣምነሉ ኣገባብ ክጎዓዝ ይፍትን። በዚ እቲ ሓባራዊ ሃገርን ዜግነትን ካብቲ “ነዓይይ ውን ይግባኣኒ እዩ”  ዝብል  ናይ ኩልና ሓባራዊ መንነት ስምዒት ይርሕቕ።

ኣብ ከምዚ እዋን እዚ፡ እቲ ንኹሉ ዜጋ ብማዕረ ዝዳኒ ሕገ-መንግስቲ ንምምስራት ዘይተኣደነ ውድድራት ክለዓል ይከኣል። ምኽንያቱ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ዘርኡ፥ ኣውራጃኡን፥ ብሄሩን፥ ወይ እምነቱን ባህሉን፥ በቲ ካልእ ብኣተሓሳስባ ዝፍለዮ ከይዕብለል፡ ኣብ ናይ ምርሕሓቕ ኣንፈት ገጹ ይሕንበብ። በዚ ምኽንያት ድማ ናይ ዝዓብለለን ዝተዓብለለን ስምዒታትን፥ ፈጢሩ ክሳብ ንሓድሕድ ምቅትታል ዘኸትል ክኸውን ይኽእል። ከም ኣብነት እዚ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ዝኸይድ ዘሎ ኩነታት እኹል መረዳእታ እዩ። እዚ ከምዚ ዝዓይነቱ ኣካይዳ ሓባራዊ ፖለቲካዊ ራኢ ኣብ ምህናጽን ዜግነታዊ ኣምር ኣብ ምድልዳል ከቢድ ማሕለኻ ይፈጥር።

ሎሚ፡ ሃገርናን ህዝብናን ኣብ ትሕቲ ተሪር ሓጺናዊ ምልኪ ተቖሪኑ ኣብ ዘለሉ እዋን፥ ሓባራዊ ሃገራዊ መንነትናን ሓድነትናን ኣደልዲልና ኣብ ክንዲ ያዕ ንብሎ፥ ወግሐ ጸብሐ ሓሓደስቲ ውድባትን ስቪላዊ ማሕበራትን ይስስናን ይጭጭሓን ኣለዋ። እዚ  በበይንኻን በብዝመስለካን ምጉዓዝ ካብ ምንታይ ዝነቅል ኮን ይኸውን? ንምልክን ምልካዊ ኣተሓሳስባንከ ስዒርና ንሃገራዊ ሓድነትና ከንዕቅብን ዲሞክራሲያዊ ምሕደራ ክነጣጥሕን ንኽእልዶ።?  ንኣውራጃይ፥ ንብሄረይ፥ ንእምነተይ ምቕዳምከ ነቲ ዝተጠርየ ሃገራዊ መንነት ከደልድሎ ይኽእልዶ።? እቲ ከምዚ ከምዚ ዝዓይነቱ ምፍልላያት’ኮ እዩ ንገለ ሃገራት ኣፍሪቃን ህዝብን ዘናቚት ዘሎ።

ስለዚ ንሕና ኤርትራውያን ብፍላይ ከኣ እዚ ሓዲሽ ወለዶ በብሸነኹ ጉዕዞ ኣብ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ኣመራርሓን፥ ኣብ ዜግነትን ጥሙር ሓሳብ ኣብ ምስራጽን ሓንኳሊ ግደ ክጻወት ምዃኑ ክንርድኦ ይግባእ። ካብዚ ሽግር እዚ ክንወጽእ እምበኣር፥ እቲ ንኹልና ዝጠምረና ሃገራዊ ሓድነትና ዘደልድል ፖለቲካዊ ኣተሓሳስባ ክንውንን ኣሎና። ንሱ ድማ እቲ ዝኸበደ ቃልሲ ንነፍስና ኣብ ምልዋጥ እንገብሮ ጻዕሪ እዩ። ነዚ ንምትግባር ከኣ ኩሉ ግዜ ሓቛፍን፥ ኣሳታፍን፡ ንሓባራዊ ረብሓ ከሰስኑ ዝኽእሉ ሓደስቲ ሃነጽቲ ኣተሓሳስባታት ኣብ ምጥራይ ፋሕተርተር ክንብል ከሎና እዩ።  ኣብ ክንዲ ነነሕድሕድና ምንፍፋግን ምጉናይን ደቂ ሓንቲ ሃገር ምዃና ኣሚንና ነቲ ኣውራጃይዶ ብሄረይዶ ሃይማኖተይዶ ዝብል ልዕሊ ሃገራውነት ከየቐደምና  ኣውራጃይ፥ ወይ ብሄረይ ክህሉ፥ ቅድም ሃገር ትሃሉ ዝብል ኣተሓሳስባ ቅድሚት ክስራዕ ከም ዘለዎ ክንሓስብ የድልየና ኣሎ።

ስለዚ ኣብ ምንታይ ደረጃ ንርከብ ከም ዘሎና  ምስትውዓል ኣድላዪ እዩ። ኣብ መድረኽ ናይ ስልጣን ምጭባጥ ቃልሲ ዲና፥ ወይ ነዚ ፍልልያት ኣመሓዲርና ሃገር ኣብ ምድሓን ኣጸቢቕና ክንመራመረሉ ይግባእ። እንተዘይኮነ ሃገራዊ ሓድነትና ክነዕቅብ ኣይክንበቅዕና ኢና።

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