እሮሮዉ ሲበዛ – የበረሃዉ ጥሪ ከተማሪዉ አንደበት

በጂቱለሚ

ብዕሬን ስነጠቅ ፤ እሮሮዉ ሲበዛ ጠመንጃዉ ትዝ አለኝ::
መልዕክት ለትግራዩ የወንበዴ ቡድን!

እናቴ በተፈጥሮዋ ቻይና ርኅሩኅ ናት። ሰሞኑን ግን ከወትሮዋ በተለያ መልኩ ማልቀሱን አብዝተዋለች። እናቴ ‘Abdii koo’ በሚትለዋ አጭር ሀረግ ብቻ ደስታዋን፣ ሀዘኗን፣ ስስትዋን፣ ጥልቅ የእናትነት ፍቅሯን፣ ተስፋዋን፣ ምክሯን፣ ግሳፄዋን፣ ድካሟን፣ ብርታቷን … ሁሉ ነገሯን ትገልጻለች። በቤት ዉስጥ የምንኖረዉ ሁለታችን ብቻ ነን። ማታ ማታ እቤት ዉስጥ ቁጭ ስንል እኔ TVዉ ላይ ሳፈጥ እሷ ደግሞ በTVዉ ግርጌ በተንጠለጠሉ ፎቶዎች ላይ ዐይኗን ተክላ ታሰላስላለች። አንደኛዉ ፎቶ ያባቴ ሲሆን ሌሎቹ የዘመድ አዝማድ ፎቶዎች ናቸዉ። እናቴ ከፎቶዎቹ መካከል አንደኛዉን አተኩራ ባየች ቁጥር ዕንባዋን መቆጣጠር ይሳናትና ወደ ጓዳ ገብታ ታለቅሳለች። ተመልሳ ትመጣና ደግሞ እንዳልከፋ ልታረሳሳኝ ትጥራለች።

እንዳለመታደል ሆኖ ይህንን የናቴን መሪር ህይዋትና በቤተሰቤ ላይ የተጫነዉን አስከፊ ግጽታ ማጤን የጀመርኩት ገና ሕጻን እያለሁ ነበር። አባቴ በከተማዋ ስመጥር የህክምና ባለሙያ ነበሩ። በአንድ የመንግስት ሆስፒታል ዉስጥ ከሚሰጡት የህክምና አገልግሎት በተጨማሪ የግል ክሊኒክ ከፍተዉ በትርፍ ጊዜያቸዉ ለኀብረተሰቡ አገልግሎት ይሰጣሉ። አገልግሎታቸዉ ከሞላጎደል የነጻ ያህል ስለሆና አንዳንዴ የህክምና ቁሳቁስ መግዣ ወጪዎችን ከራሳቸዉ ኪስ ለመሸፈን ይገደዳሉ። እናም ቤተሰቡ ለክፉ ቀን እንኳ የሚሆን የመጠባበቂያ ገንዘብ የለዉም ነበር። ሆኖም ግን ቤተሰቡ በእጅጉ ደስተኛ ነዉ ማለት ይቻላል።

አባቴ ስለኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ታሪክ፤ ባሕልና ወግ ያላቸዉ ጥልቅ ዕዉቀትና በኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ላይ የሚደርሰዉን ብሔራዊ ጭቆናን አስመልክቶ ከሚያሳዩት ግልጽ ተቃዉሞ የተነሳ ወዳጅና ጠላት እንዲያፈሩ አስችሏቸዋል። በተለይ ደግሞ አንደበተ ርቱዕነታቸዉና አልበገሬነታቸዉ ታክሎበት የበርካታ ኦሮሞ ወጣቶችን ልብ በቀላሉ ማሸነፍ በመቻላቸዉ በጠላቶቻቸዉ ጥርስ ዉስጥ የመግባት ዕድላቸዉን አስፍቷል። በዚሁ አቋማቸዉ ሳቢያ በወያኔ የጸጥታ ኃይሎች ከፍተኛ ክትትል ስለሚደረግባቸዉ የእናቴ የሰቀቀን ሕይወት መነሻው ከዚህ ይጀምራል።

አንድ ቀን አባቴ እንደ ልማዳቸዉ ሥራ ቦታ አምሽተዉ ወደ ቤታቸዉ በማምራት ላይ ሳሉ የቤተሰቡን ዓምድ የሚያናጋ ድርጊት ተፈጸመ። አባቴ በቤታቸዉ ደጃፍ ላይ በአምስት ጥይቶች ተደብድበዉ ተገደሉ። የቤተሰቡ ሕይወት በአጠቃላይ፤ የእናቴ ልብ ደግሞ በተለይ ላይድን ቆሰለ። በወቅቱ ሕጻን በመሆኔ የአባቴን መገደል ታሪካዊ አንምደታ በዉል ባልረዳም እንደጅረት የፈሰሰዉ ያ ደም በትንሿ ኣእምሮዬ በመቀረፁ እያደር የሕመሙ ጥልቀት ይሰማኝ ጀመረ።

ከአባቴ መገደል በኋላ በአካባቢዉ ላይ የተቀሰቀሰዉ ከፍተኛ የብሔርተኝነት ስሜት ከባዱን የቤተሰቤን ሃዘን በመጠኑም ቢሆን ያቃለለዉ ይመስለኛል። ለዓብነት ያህል አባቴ ጀምሮት የነበረዉ የመኖርያ ቤት ግንባታ ብሔርተኞቹ በቋቋሙት ግብረኃይል አማካይነት በሚያስገርም መልኩ ተጠናቅቆ ቤተሰቤ የዘመናዊ መኖርያ ቤት ባለቤት መሆን ቻለ። እናቴ እንደዋዛ የጀመረችዉ ትንሽዬ ሱቅ ግብረኃይሉ ባደራጀዉ የገበያ መዋቅር የቅድሚያ ተጠቃሚ እንድትሆን በመደረጉ በርካታ ደንበኞችን ኣፍርታ ወደ ዘመናዊ መደበር ተቀየረች። ትናንሽ ህጻናት እንኳ ሳይቀሩ ለዕቃ ግዥ ሲላኩ እረጅም መንገድ በማቋረጥ ምርጫቻውን የኛ ሱቅ ያደርጉ ነበር። እነሆ የአባቴ መገደል እንደ ገዳዮቹ ምኞትና ስሌት በአካባቢዉ ላይ የፍርሃትና መሸማቀቅ ስሜትን የሚያነግስ ሳይሆን በተቃራኒዉ የህዝቡን ቁጣና ብሔራዊ ስሜትን የሚያቀጣጥል ሆኖ ተገኘ።

እናም የተንኮላቸዉን መክሸፍ የተረዱ እኚህ የትግራይ ነፍሰገዳይ ወንበዴዎች እርር ድብን ኣሉ። በዚህ ዓይነቱ ሕዝባዊ ድጋፍ ከፍተኛ መጽናናት ያገኘችዉ እናቴ በሀዊ ለከፍተኛ ትምህርት ከቤተሰቡ ተነጥላ ርቃ መሄድ ምክንያት ተዳፍኖ የቆየዉ ኀዘኗና ስጋቷ ዳግም ተቀሰቀሰ።

ሀዊ ብቸኛ እህቴ ናት። በእኔና በሷ መካከል መጠነኛ የዕድሜ ልዩነት በመኖሩ የነገሮችን ትርጉምና አንድምታ ከኔ በተሻለ መልኩ በጥልቀት ለመረዳት ችላለች። በተለይ ደግሞ የአባቴን ገዳዮችና የግድያዉን ታሪካዊ ትርጉም ቀን በቀን ሳትሰላች ትነግረኝ ነበር። ሀዊ ብዙ ስሜቶችን ከአባታችን ወርሳለች። ከእሳቸዉ ህልፈት በኋላ ደግሞ በእልህና ቁጭት የእሳቸዉን ዓላማና አቋም ይዛ ወጣች። ልክ አባቴ ስያደርግ እንደነበር ባሕሏንና ታሪኳን በአደባባይ መመስከር ልማዷ ሆና። ድፍረቷ፣ ልበ-ሙሉነቷ፣ በራስ መተማመኗና ብሔራዊ ኩራቷ ላይ የሴትነት ዉበቷ ታክሎበት ያለዕድሜዋ ልዩ ግርማ-ሞገስና አድናቆትን ኣጎናጸፋት። ሀዊ በትምህርቷም ጎበዝ ከሚባሉ ተማሪዎች መካከል የመጀመሪያዉን ስፍራ ስለሚትይዝ: በሁሉም ነገር ተምሳሌት ለመሆን የበቃች ብርቅዬ የማለዳ ጀምበር ሆነች።

በወርሃ ግንቦት 2014 እጅግ ሰቅጣጭ አደጋ በድጋሚ ወደ ቤታችን ገባ። ይህኛዉን አደጋ እኔም ሆንኩ እናቴ በፊፁም ልንቋቋመዉ የሚንችል ዓይነት አልሆነም። ሀዊ በምትማርበት ዩንቨርሲቲ ዉስጥ በነዚያዉ ልማደኛ ጭራቆች ተገድላ እሬሳዋ ተጭኖ መጣልን። ይህች የብዙሃን ተስፋ፣ የማለዳ ብርሃን በአጭሩ ተቀጨች። የማየዉና የምሰማዉ ነገር ሁሉ ክፉ ቅዠት እንጂ በዉኑ የማየዉ ክስተት አልመስል አለኝ። መፈጠሬን እስከምጠላ ድረስ ሁሉ ነገር ጨለመብኝ። ይባስ ብሎም ደግሞ እናቴ በድንጋጤ ብዛት ወደ ኣእምሮዋ መመለስ ተስኗታል። ይህንን የሰቀቀን ታሪክ ለመተረክ አሁንም ቢሆን አቅም ያንሰኛል።

እሮሮዉ በዛ፤ ግፉ ከልኩ አለፈ። ስቃዩ አንገሸገሸን። ከሀዊኮ ቀብር በኋላ ከሕጻንነቴ ጀምሮ ስቃይና መከራ ወደ ተፈራራቀብኝ ቄዬ ተመልሼ ብዙም የመቆየት ፍላጎት አልነበረኝም። ሆኖም ግን ለተወሰኑ ቀናት ከእናቴ አጠገብ መራቁን አልወደድኩም። እናቴ እነዚያን ፎቶዎች እያየች ሌተቀን አምርራ ማልቀሷን ቀጥላበታለች። መጽናናት ኣልተቻላትም። ከንግዲህ ወዲያ እናቴን የሚያጽናናት ነገር ቢኖር አንድ ብቻ ነዉ። እሱም እነዚያን ሰዉ-በላ ጭራቆችን አሳዶ የሚወጋላት ጀግናን አብዝታትሻለች። ያ ደግሞ ከኔዉ ከአንድ ልጇ ይጀምራል። መራራዉን የእናቴን ሀዘን ቁጭ ብዬ የማይበት ወቅት አለመሆኑን ተረዳሁ።

እናም አራቱንየቁርጥ ቀን ጓደኞቼን አስከትዬ ወደ በረሃው አመራን። የጀግና መሃላ ይዘን፣ የበረሃዉን ጥሪ ተከትለን በጀግኖች ዓምባ፣ ዉሎዉና አዳሩ ከማይታወቅ ከባለ ጎፈሬዉ የበረሃ አንበሳ፣ ተራራና ሸለቆዉን ሲፈትሽ ዉሎ ከሚያድረዉ ከፈጣኑ በራሪ የደጋ ንስር ጋር ተቀላቅያለሁ። ወገቤ ከዝናሩ፣ ትከሻዬ ከብረቱ ጋር ተስማምቷል። የጥይቱ ቃቃታ፣ የባሩዱ ሽታ፣ የገዳዩ ፉከራ ተመችቶኛል። የወገኔን ደም፣ የህዝቤን ዕምባ እስከምበቀልና የኦሮሚያን ነጻነት እስከማረጋግጥ ድረስ ፈጽሞ ዕረፍት ኣላገኝም። ለዚህ ደግሞ ቃሌ ፍጹም፣ ትጥቄ ጥብቅ፣ ሀሞቴ መራራ፣ ክንዴ ብርቱ፣ እርምጃዬ ፈጣን፣ ዓላማዬ ጽኑ ነዉና ከእንግዲህ ይህ ነፍሰ-በላዉ የትግሬ ቡድንና ምስለኔዎቹ በየመንደሩና በየጎጡ እየዞሩ ኣሉባልታ እየነዙና ንጹሃንን እየገደሉ ተዳላድሎ የመኖሪያ ዘመን በእርግጠኝነት ያከትማል። አሁን ባላችሁበት ሁሉ ብሶት ከወለዳቸዉ ሕዝባዊ ታጋዮች ጋር ልትጋፈጡ ነዉ። ግፍና እሮሮዉ በዝቶ ሕዝባዊ እሳት ወልዷልና ለዘመነ ፍጻሜያችሁ ተሰናዱ።

የንጹሃን ደም ሁሌም ይፋረዳል!

ጂቱ ለሚ ነኝ ከኦሮሚያ

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FOR OROMO, ‘SURVIVAL ITSELF IS A REVOLUTIONARY ACT’

By Ayantu Tibeso

It is a great honor to be part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Macha Tulama Association. For a people facing complete erasure, survival itself is a revolutionary act.

The fact that we are gathered here today to honor the founding of Macha Tulama 50 years ago speaks to the fact that despite all odds, we, as a people are survivors. Ethiopian history is full of attempts to annihilate the Oromo—culturally, politically, socially, economically, in all and every ways possible.

Oromos — cast as foreign, aliens to their own lands, have been the targets of the entire infrastructure of the Ethiopian state since their violent incorporation. Our identity, primarily language, religion and belief systems and cultural heritage have been the main targets of wanton destruction.   

Oromo and its personhood were already demonized, characterized as embodiments of all that is inferior, shameful and subhuman from the beginning. Oromo people were economically and politically exploited, dominated and alienated.

Oromo cultural, political and religious institutions have been under massive attacks and dismantlement by consecutive Ethiopian governments. Oromos were rendered slaves on their own lands by a colonial land tenure system.

Given the huge systematic and structural forces that have been mobilized against Oromo people and its peoplehood, it is truly astonishing that we have survived. But we have survived not by some miracle, but because our ancestors have continuously resisted violent assimilation, dehumanization, economic exploitation, and complete eradication.

We have survived because our people have courageously and wisely Organized, sang, fought and sacrificed. We have survived because of brilliantly organized Oromo institutions such as Macha Tulama, which have held our communities together.

For five decades, this organization has been the vanguard of the Oromo people’s struggle for freedom, liberty and autonomy. Macha Tulama was conceived at a time when Oromo people desperately needed institutions that would provide direction, leadership, and mobilize the financial, human, intellectual and creative resources to empower Oromo communities.

At the time of its founding, the association was confronted with dire economic, social and political predicaments the Oromo were facing. One of the most important tasks of this organization has been rebuilding the confidence and trust of Oromo people in their own cultural heritage, language, belief systems and identity.

Creating opportunities and spaces for a people who have been historically denigrated and traumatized to regain their self-esteem was and is no easy task. This is a project we must continue, until Oromos are able to have complete control over their fate and future.

There was nothing easy about being Oromo and being young 50 years ago. Young people, students and others, risked their lives, limbs and property to organize, to publish leaflets and other literature that would become vital sources of national consciousness raising and empowerment. Macha Tulama leaders, members and others affiliated with the organization-faced torture, death, imprisonment, excruciating pain, and harassment.

Every gain that has been made by this association has been because of the huge sacrifices paid by individuals and by the collectives to which they belonged. We are here today celebrating the 50th anniversary of this association’s founding because of the sacrifices made, and most importantly, because of the vision of the leaders and members of Macha Tulama — a vision that one-day Oromos can live with dignity and freely on their own lands.

Macha Tulama has been an inspiration as a symbol of unity, national consciousness, wisdom and strength in leadership and has provided us with a new and rich understanding of the power of inclusive pan Oromo movements.  

Surely, much has changed since it’s founding, but not so much so that Maaca Tulema has become irrelevant to Oromos living today. Macha Tulama’s vision — of promoting, empowering and liberating Oromo people remains as relevant today as it was when it was founded.

The Ethiopian socio- political establishments, who have always opposed and mercilessly attacked any pan-Oromo movements, have not changed very much in nature. This is why we are here today commemorating the 50th anniversary of Macha Tulama outside of Oromia, rather than on our lands, Oromia.   

The work began by Macha Tulama must continue. It is critical that we continue to build inclusive pan-Oromo movements and institutions that empower our people for self-rule. My generation should look into the history of the Macha Tulama Association. They will find themselves moved by the vision, mission, courage, ingenuity and principle of the leaders and members of this organization.

We must ask ourselves how these brilliant and innovative groups of people were able to accomplish the impossible during one of the darkest periods of Oromo history. What techniques, methods and leadership styles did they employ to build a pan-Oromo organization at a time when using the word Oromo itself was a crime?

We must closely study the life, achievements and challenges of giant individuals such asAlemu Kittessa, Haile Mariam Gamada, Haji Robale Ture, General Taddesse Birru, Astede Habte Mariam and so many others. I am endlessly inspired and encouraged by the stories of these great Oromo leaders. 

There is a lot for us to learn about how to organize in a way that dignifies and solidifies people’s bond, ways that create a real sense of community, and a sense of cohesiveness that is based on recognition of diversities as well as the commonalities that bind us.

We are here today because of the sacrifices made by thousands of Oromos, in every corner of Oromia. Most of their stories have not been told—the stories of ordinary people who have resisted century old colonial domination, exploitation, and assimilation.

Our elders have been so preoccupied with the task of surviving and with the task of laying the ground upon which we can hold our heads high and walk. It is this we must remember as we go about the tasks of organizing, documenting, painting, writing and creating institutions to build our communities’ capacity for the next fifty years and beyond.

We must learn from the founders of this association that quality of leadership, vision, principle, innovation and good faith in leadership are necessities for our continued survival as a people. I would like to end with an excerpt from a quote from one of my favorite African American thinkers and writers. Audre Lorde calls it a litany for survival

For those of us who live at the shoreline

standing upon the constant edges of decision

crucial and alone

looking inward and outward

at once before and after

seeking a now that can breed

futures like bread in our children's mouths

so their dreams will not reflect

the death of ours:

For those of us

who were imprinted with fear

like a faint line in the center of our foreheads

learning to be afraid with our mother's milk

for by this weapon

this illusion of some safety to be found

the heavy-footed hoped to silence us

For all of us

this instant and this triumph

We were never meant to survive

And when the sun rises we are afraid

it might not remain

when the sun sets we are afraid

it might not rise in the morning

and when we speak we are afraid

our words will not be heard

nor welcomed

but when we are silent

We are still afraid

So it is better to speak

Remembering

We were never meant to survive

*Ayantu Tibeso is a researcher and communications consultant based in North America. She can be reached at atibeso@gmail.com  or on twitter @diasporiclife.

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