A critique of critical reviews of “Tower in the Sky”

Following
the publication of Hiwot Teffera’s
widely acclaimed book, “Tower in the
Sky” (AAU Press, 2012), 
several reviews have been posted on the Internet and other media, both
by government propagandists (EthiopiaFirst), pro-democracy sites

(Ethiomedia), and controversial ones
(AwrambaTimes).

In this commentary we provide a brief elucidation of how the historical
significance of the bona fide message of the book is wickedly tainted by
apologists of the ethnocentric regime in power in Ethiopia, and the extent to
which a totalitarian regime can go to corrupt historical records for the sole
purpose of legitimizing subjugation and repression.

In the
literary world, it is a long-established tradition to opine on, express
approbation of, or accentuate misrepresentation of facts in the works of
others, with a view to advancing a trend of thought, promoting the sharing of
knowledge, enhancing the development of a discipline, or bestowing due credit
upon the originator of the work. 
This is generally done in strict adherence to time-honored protocols for
critical reviews that have universal allure, regardless of culture, ideology,
language or other pertinent persuasions. One exception to the rule often tends
to be the practice in totalitarian regimes, where knowledge generation is
tolerated to the extent that it is in the service of the ruling elite and the
illuminating endeavor of critical reviews is coercively consigned to those
mundane tasks performed by paid propagandists.

In
democratic societies, seldom is this medium of literary interaction distorted
for the illicit purpose of advancing a personal agenda or promoting odious
political and ideological objectives. 
In the singular cases where this happens, the culprits invariably are
either individuals of blinkered disposition or those who have indifference to
academic integrity or established norms of civilized discourse.

Before we
delve into the central themes of some of the reviews by apologists of the
ethnocentric regime in Ethiopia, it may be fitting to recognize the
contribution of the book to the growing body of knowledge about a turbulent era
and an enigmatic generation in the history of that country.

To most
Ethiopians who were witnesses of or participants in the tumultuous events that
the author so vividly and eloquently narrated, the book conjures up painful
memories of a traumatic epoch that was simultaneously defined by unparalleled
idealism, youthful gallantry, government brutality, aborted dreams and an
insidious disillusionment.

To the
generations that came after the harrowing period and grew up under successive
dictatorships, the book is permeated with latent messages that the youth, as an
engine of social change, have an immutable responsibility and the duty de rigueur to altruistically challenge
repression and injustice. Further, the book mesmerizingly underpins the
venerable truism that the struggle for freedom is arduous and not without cost,
and that in a struggle for freedom there are often unintended consequences.
Most importantly, it ominously, but divinely,  promulgates the ethereal message that
the sacrifices paid by the golden generation would be in vain only if the youth
of our time failed to carry and advance the torch of freedom passed to them by
their forerunners.

A book
about a fateful period in the history of a country is likely to engender angst,
apprehension and introspection in a number of disparate circles — and this
seems to be the case with this book. To those players who share responsibility
for the miscalculations of the EPRP that led to the catastrophic collapse of
the party, and who now cohabit with the current tyrants, the book has provided
several outlets to vent off indignity and discomfiture. To others, who had
played prominent roles in the struggle of yesteryear, but now have closed their
eyes to the continued injustice against the very people they had fought to
liberate, the book appears to offer an affirmation of their egotistical
thinking that, having paid their dues as naïve youngsters, no cause at the
present is worth dying for, and that they are justified in turning their backs
to the prevailing tyranny.

To the
ethnocentric dictators in power, the book indubitably is a double-edged sword
that needs to be managed with care and prudence. On one hand, the potent lesson
that the current generation can learn from the experiences of those gallant
young boys and girls, who selflessly fought a vicious dictatorship with the
lofty goal of liberating their people and establishing a utopian state, is a
dangerous phenomenon that must be nipped in the bud. On the other hand, the
graphic description in the book of the vicious measures taken by the brutal
government of the Derge to suppress the popular
movement can now complement the scare tactics the Woyane
propaganda machinery has effectively used as a means of silencing and thwarting
any semblance of resistance to the atrocious dictatorship in power.

It is,
therefore, in the above framework that the reviews of the book posted by
various individuals should be scrutinized and evaluated. Understandably, most
of the reviewers shower the writer with well-deserved accolades for her
literary fineness, extraordinary faculty to reminisce detailed events of the
era, and cogent elucidation of the follies of the EPRP leadership.

However, a
few of the reviewers tended to jumble propaganda with historical facts, sycophantly embellishing the records of a dictator and,
hence, contravening basic tenets of critical reviews of a book of this nature.
Among the latter category belong some apologists whose brazen remarks were so
contemptible as to 
manifestly put to shame even those in power they are trying to
flatter.

In one
instance, for example, one reviewer

wrote a scathing castigation of the EPRP for lack of tolerance of dissent and
excessive measures against dissenting members, while praising the late
dictator, Meles Zenawi, for
his exemplary leadership before and after imposing his vicious ethnic agenda
over the people of Ethiopia. This, is of course, a deliberate act of
misinformation and 
a despicable transgression of the fêted literary tradition.
In his haste to praise his masters in the guise of a literary exercise, the
reviewer has expediently ignored the shameful and bloodthirsty history of the
TPLF in which numerous acts of violence were perpetrated  by the dictator and his
party  against their dissenting
comrades, both during and after the formative years of the ethnic-based
party.  Indeed, based on credible
accounts of those in the know, the crimes committed by Zenawi
and his party have few parallels in their viciousness in the annals of
totalitarian organizations. 

In another
vain attempt to posthumously paint a larger-than-life picture of the late
dictator, that same reviewer made perhaps one of the most egregious statements
ever made about Zenawi’s role in the student
movement of the era. While there is no denial of the early ambitions of the
dictator, and his efforts to get visibility as an immature sophomore, it is
emphatically and utterly preposterous to suggest that he was ever elected as a congressman  to the
University Students Union of Addis Ababa (USUAA). His failed campaign to represent
the students in his constituency, if anything, revealed early signals of his
arrogance that later became his trademark of unstatesmanlike
deportment.  

The
dishonorable reviewer also bestowed upon Zenawi the
credit of granting freedom of expression to the people of Ethiopia, unlike the
predecessor, Mengistu Haile Mariam. In point of fact,
there is no misapprehension about the brutality of the latter; however, it is a
travesty of commonsense and a defiance of basic human decency to anoint  Zenawi and his party as defenders of basic human
rights. In essence, Mengistu’s Derge and Zenawi’s TPLF are
two sides of the same coin. As has been repeatedly remarked, both regimes are vicious
dictatorships, whose only differences lie in the approaches they follow to
suppress the basic rights of the people of Ethiopia. One major divergence
between the two is that the TPLF, under the guise of fighting terrorism, enjoys
the full support of the West as it hones and perfects the machinery of
oppression contrived by the Derge to harass,
intimidate and subjugate an entire nation. The reality is that even the recent
issue of the U.S. State Department Country Reports was unable to conceal the
fact that, in 2012 alone, the TPLF regime had arrested more than 100 opposition
political figures, activists, journalists, and bloggers. No reasonable person
could deny the imposition of severe restrictions on civil society and
nongovernmental organization activities, thanks to the draconian Charities and
Societies Proclamation issues by Zenawi’s
repressive regime.  No human being
with an iota of decency would write about the existence of freedom expression
in Ethiopia in the face of the continued detentions of journalists and bloggers
in the likes of  Eskinder Nega and others
on trumped up charges. Tragically, this is an example of the dreadful use of a
form of literary exercise as an instrument of state machinery designed to
misinform, inhibit flourishing of ideas and promote horrendous and venomous
ethnic ideology.

“Tower in the Sky” is a veritable monumental
contribution to our understanding of the sacrifices paid in those auspicious
years with a vision to establish a system of government where individual
freedoms would be respected, everyone would enjoy the equal protection of the
law, and all citizens would have the unalienable rights to life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness. As one admires the intensity with which the writer
conveys the true essence of the revolutionary fervor that swept the country at
that time, one cannot help but express one’s disenchantment in the lack
of interest, on the part of many surviving members of that generation, in the
present predicament of the people of Ethiopia. It is indeed mindboggling how
any member of that generation who once demonstrated superhuman fits and
discipline in their formative years to build a just system, would turn blind
eyes to the appalling abuse of human rights by the current regime.  Can the follies of a handful of EPRP
leaders justify the condoning of the atrocities being committed by the present
rulers?  Unlike the struggle for
personal success, from which one can walk away in the face of adversity, there
can be no turning back in the search for justice and liberty. Only hypocrisy,
hedonism, vanity and egoism would explain the motives of a person who dithers
about a noble cause he or she once embraced. And, there is no cause that is
nobler than fighting for justice, equality and freedom; and there is no action
that is more pusillanimous and reprehensible than turning away from such a
cause on frivolous ruses.

At a time
when there is much to be learned from the experience of those momentous years
in the search for a solution to the present crisis in Ethiopia, anyone who
focuses only on the blunders of EPRP leaders as a central theme of any treatise
about the upheavals of the time should be either a political neophyte or a
baleful minion paid to prolong the Woyane
ethnocentric totalitarianism. Centuries ago, Plutarch observed: “To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their
errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.”
Plutarch’s
observation is especially germane in the struggle for freedom and justice in Ethiopia —
a struggle that requires persistence and continued sacrifice to liberate the
people from a pernicious manacle of totalitarianism. Parties rise and fall, and
ideologies flourish and perish. However, the lofty ideal of liberating men and
women from the yoke of tyranny and authoritarian rule is an absolute dictum
that cannot be cloaked in a patina of relative expediency. If there is any
message to be drawn from the events of those extraordinary years, or any
exposition of them such as “Tower in the Sky”, it is the need to
organize, inculcate discipline in the youth, raise awareness of the dangers of
ethnic-based totalitarianism, and extol the inviolability and sublimity of
paying the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of justice, equality and
freedom.  

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The writer can be reached at [email protected]