By Leenjiso Horo* | May 2012 Gadaa.com
The Tigrayan regime of Meles Zenawi has commissioned, planned, instigated, ordered, aided and abetted a criminal, political and military war on the Oromo people and their Islamic religious faith. And now, it has undertaken a violent and barbaric attack on the peaceful prayers at Mosque, in town of Asaasaa in Arsii, southeastern region of Oromia. In this fascistic, violent attack, the regime has massacred men, women and children. The land was covered with the blood of innocent victims of the residents of Asaasaa and its vicinities. This is a war on the Oromo people; a war regarding their religious beliefs. It is now time for the Oromo nationalists to open their eyes.
This is not a new war; this war of Meles Zenawi’s regime against the Oromo religious faith, particularly the Islamic faith, is something that had happened in the past. This old war began with Emperor Yohannis IV of Tigray against the Oromo of Wallo and their Islamic faith. This is the continuation of that same war. That old war is now renewed again at a larger scale, throughout Oromiyaa. So what was Yohannis’ old war on the Oromo people and their Islamic religion? It has now became the beginning of Meles Zenawi’s new war on the Oromo people, their political and social organizations as well as their religious faith. It is a war to fulfill the mission of Emperor Yohannes IV of Tigray, a mission that started a century ago. The mission was, always has been, and it still continues to be, to destroy the Oromo people, their religions, and their social and political institutions.
Emperor Yohannis IV of Tigray was a religiously zealot, fanatic Orthodox Christian, and a madman that ferociously fought against the Oromo of Wallo and their Islamic religious faith. He began by giving an ultimatum to the Oromo of Wallo to be converted to his version of Christianity; some were even forcefully converted while others refused. He declared war on those who refused to be converted to his faith. In that war, he slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Oromo. He mutilated the limbs of innocent victims and forced them out of the Wallo region – causing some to go into hiding. With this, he demolished mosques and built churches in their place. Consequently, his successor Emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia also wagged war against the Oromo and their Waqeffanna faith, the Oromiyaan indigenous religion. In that war, he almost obliterated the whole Oromo population. He destroyed all Galma, the Oromo religious shrines. On the sights of shrines, he erected the Abyssinian Orthodox churches.
Meles Zenawi came to Oromiyaa in 1991 with the aim and purpose of destroying the Oromo people. First, his attack began with Oromo political and humanitarian organizations, including the legal ones. Then, he dismantled all of them, including the Oromo Relief Association (ORA) and the Oromo Human Rights League. Having accomplished this, he built concentration camps all over Oromiyaa for the incarcerations of the Oromo nationals. Then, his regime declared the OLF a “terrorist” organization. With that, he categorized the Oromo people as the supporter of “terrorism.” With this false accusation, hundreds of thousands of were imprisoned, tortured, raped, maimed, and killed. Some imprisoned for life. Hundreds of thousands are forced into exile. Hundreds of thousands were put in the concentration camps. Hundreds of thousands were kidnapped and disappeared. The Oromo students have become a target for imprisonment, torture, and expelled from their schools. The regime burned down Oromiyaan forests; poisoned rivers and lakes; it has engaged in leasing and selling of Oromiyaa’s fertile farmlands to global multinational corporations in which the Tigrayans are the shareholders. It controlled the import and export, including the local businesses. It engaged in dividing Oromo nationals on regional basis to weaken the Oromo national struggle. It tried to create conflicts between Oromo religious faiths: between Christians and Muslims, though it was not successful. It is clear Wayyanee (TPLF), the Tigrayan regime, has gone through all phases and stages in its fight against the Oromo people.
Recently, his regime has declared the Oromiyaa’s southeastern regions of Arsii and Baalee as “terrorist” regions and the Oromo residents of these regions as “terrorist” people. The barbaric slaughter of innocent peaceful men, women and children at Mosque in Asaasaa town in Arsii region is a part of a long plan, drawn up and put into action by the Meles Zenawi’s colonial regime in its war against the Oromo people. This time it happens to be in the name of Islamic religion. Next time, the attack may take another form. It is not secret that every successive Abyssinian colonial ruler was hostile to the Oromo people, and their religions: Islam, Waqeeffanna, and Christianity versions of the Oromo people, and so are Meles Zenawi and his cohorts. This hostility is now directed against the Oromo Islamic religion. This clearly appears to be the beginning of a new attack by Meles Zenawi’s colonial regime in following his ancestor, Yohannes IV. Meles Zenawi’s government massacre of Oromo is not the end, but it is the begging of even more massacre yet to come. This is an extremely radical terrorist regime. In addition to using the power of the state to severely punish and silence political expression and religious freedom, this regime has also been training, arming, sponsoring and leading vigilantes, infiltrators and spies to create violence, to kidnap, and to kill Oromo nationals.
The regime’s attempt is to create a religious conflict within Oromiyaa proper in order to seek financial and military aid from foreign sources and sponsors in the name of fighting “terrorism.” Its purpose is to stay in power as long as it can by creating contradictions and violence within the Oromo people by pitting members of one religious faith against each other, and at the same time to create doubts between Muslim faith and other faiths in the empire. All nationals must understand this sinister scheme of Meles Zenawi’s regime and fight it.
It is important that our people stand together against this criminal war. The war is against Oromummaa (Oromoness). Any attack on any Oromo religion is an attack on Oromummaa. For this, the attack on Oromo Islamic religious faith is an attack on the Oromo. It is time to understand the purpose, the nature and the character of this brutal attack. The purpose of the attack on the Oromo is to destroy them as a people in the name of religion. Its nature is military and its character is domination, dehumanization and exploitation of the people. It must be understood that the regime is not against the two billion followers of Islamic religious faith in the world. On the contrary, the regime is against Oromo and their Islamic religious faith. In this case, the regime’s primary goal is either to split or to change the Oromo followers of Islamic religious faith in order to create an Abyssinianized version of Islamic religious faith within the Oromo followers of Islamic religious faith that supports and becomes loyal to the Abyssinian colonial empire state. Here, the regime’s attempt is to create a religious version of OPDO. Meles Zenawi is now using his regime’s political, military, and financial muscles in order to effectuate the creation of such a division in order to establish the Abyssinianization of the Oromo Islamic religious faith that supports the Abyssinian colonial empire state.
The regime has already falsely categorized as “extremists,” much like “al-Qaeda,” and as supporters of “terrorists” those Oromo Muslims who rejected such sinister scheme of Abyssinianizing their religious faith. The Oromo Muslims, Christians, Waqeffataas, and all Oromo of various faith and beliefs and the Oromo followers of no particular religious faith and beliefs must join hand-to-hand and stand shoulder-to-shoulder to unequivocally condemn, and fight against this insane Ethiopian regime’s act of political, religious, and physical violence that have been taking place against the Oromo of Islamic faith.
As all people, the Oromo people regard their religion as a relationship between themselves and their God, whom they consider as holy, sacred. Spiritual or divine. Religion is a personal belief. It is a personal issue. It is an institutionalized attitude, beliefs and practices of individuals or groups held with deep faith. It is not in the business of state either to create it or to change it, or to tell the people the way to worship it or how to worship it; or to tell the people how to pray or not or when to pray or not. It is only the business of the religion followers and their religious leadership. Tigrayan political elites and state interference in the internal affairs of Oromo Muslim faith is to curtail the freedom of Oromo individuals or groups from believing in, or from practicing, or from promoting their religion the way they see it fit their religion. In addition, Meles Zenawi’s primary purpose of interference in the internal affair of religious faith is to polarize the Oromo people along religious lines. He had already successfully done along regional lines. Now, he wants to repeat the same on the basis of religion. This is a radically extremist regime – a fascist regime. It must be opposed; it must be fought. It must be defeated. It is your patriotic duty as an Oromo to oppose, to fight and to defeat this enemy of your people.
Oromiyaa Shall be free!
* Leenjiso Horo can be reached at tguyyoo@yahoo.com
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