Dr. Negaso Responds Again

Response to Ato Girma Kassa’s Response

Point 1 – On “Trying to have back the dead Kinijit is an illusion?”

Dr.Negaso Gidada former president of Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ),

Yes, I am sure that we are speaking of the same Kanji as the organization which was a coalition of four parties which was legally registered and participated in the 2005 election but which disintegrated latter. As an organization, it was born then and has died since.

For some Ethiopians Kinijit may be a symbol of a movement, as you say, “the movement of democracy, justice and Ethiopiawinet. It was a symbol of the ever growing thirst and hunger of the people to have its dignity, respect and freedom.” But I cannot exclude other Ethiopian organizations and movements which do have similar aims and goals. The Ethiopian people have been struggling for democracy, justice, to have their dignity and freedom respected. Different movements and organizations have taken up this aim and have struggled in their own way and are continuing to do so. I do recognize that there may be differences on the term “ETHIOPIAWINET” a term which is perceived differently as we observe in the current political debate.(I shiver and fear for the future of Ethiopia when observing the heated propaganda war now raging between the “ETHIOPIAWINET” and “OROMUMMAA” nationalists in the Diaspora and the social media)For some “ETHIOPIAWINET” means simply being an Ethiopian citizen enjoying the rights endowed to him/her by the constitution and obeying the laws and regulations of the country. For some however it means being born and living in the territory under the control of the Ethiopian state. (Some may live outside but still having some kind of emotional attachment to Ethiopia. Some may think that the physical outlook of the people who originate from this area is unique from others and have different culture, values, and history which are unique to them only and define this as “ETHIOPIANISM”. Some people have the wish that the different ethnic groups living under the rule of the Ethiopian state have the same origin, or are intermingled for centuries and the same identity and should keep and cultivate “ETHIOPIAWINET” AND UNITY. Still for some, “ETHIOPIAWINET” is brand of nationalism, which if not democratized could mean racist in relation to other Africans (for that matter to dark skinned people also living in Ethiopia) and white skinned people. (“Arab” or “Faranj”). Some people think that this identity, “ETHIOPIAWINET” is artificial and is propagated to deny and destroy the ethnic and linguistic identities objectively present in Ethiopia. Again for some “ETHIOPIAWINET” is the slogan of expansionists and restorationists. Not only that, some take “ETHIOPIAWINET” movement as a movement to restructure the Ethiopian state and recreate a centralized administration as opposed to t the federal decentralized administration.

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