Letter on Tesfaye Demmellash’s masterpiece

It is a masterpiece of bold, ethnological depiction of Amara ethos
for which I commend you (Tesfaye) wholeheartedly. It poignantly
articulated the not-so-much-vaunted very Ethiopian, evolved and
inclusive Amara world-view.

I wish to, however, point out the conspicuous absence of one crucial
issue in the discourse.Tesfaye’s otherwise elegant analysis did not
cast light on Ethiopia’s sorry history with respect to the two Italian
invasions preceding Ethiopia’s calamitous ‘revolutionary’ history of
the 1970s.

The Amara elites are culpable of crimes of omission with regard to the
ongoing atrocities Woyanes mete out on Amaras. Their reticence is
rightly read as tacit approval.

The untold crimes perpetrated against tens of thousands of Amaras
including the series of massacres, dispossession, exile, denial of
their children from accessing education in their own tongue since
Woyane usurped power in 1991, has not perturbed Amara elites beyond
the occasional outbursts of rage.

The vengeful Woyane mind-set that is largely informed by the distorted
reading of the conducts and outcomes of the two aforementioned wars,
is at the root of their audacious actions.

It is with a sense of profound grief that I recount the lynching of 28
of my own peasant relatives including children as young as five years old, by forces armed and incited by Woyanes.

I concede that it is the timid, pretentious and disingenuous Amara
elites who have consistently failed to stand up to the wild
allegations hurled at their forefathers, that has emboldened this
suicidal minority to do what they are doing today.

Amara intellectuals are still dilly-dallying on determining the
course of action that needs to be taken to avert the imminent danger
of experiencing a more sordid crime this malicious outfit is set to
commit.

Once again, thank you, Tesfaye.

Best regards,
Messay D.