[TLM Editorial Viewpoint]
At the heart of democracy lies citizens’ need to provide informed and responsible responses to societal challenges. While it is commendable for individuals to recognize their rights, the crucial condition for democracy to thrive is that citizens understand and fulfil their responsibilities. Democracy relies on accountability, transparency and good governance, while authoritarian rule fosters a culture of hate, unfairness, corruption, nepotism, human rights abuses, and misuse of public resources. When examining the political journey of the TPLF, one can anticipate a commitment to public service.
However, this commitment comes at the expense of popular wisdom, as vulnerable youth and marginalized groups are exploited by current political leaders pursuing a political disaster that we have all observed. Unfortunately, there is a strong focus on obtaining governmental authority at any cost using force and waging war. The TPLF manipulated the limited understanding that ordinary Tigrayans had about their history and distorted the truth to serve its agenda. The people of Tigray reject the authoritarian rule of TPLF leaders who have disconnected from ordinary people’s needs and lives when the Tigray territory is under occupation and the silent genocide continues.
It was indeed an unfortunate moment for all decent members of humanity. The BBC reporter summarized the situation as follows: “It is always sad to hear of a dream being shattered.
This exploitation of historical narratives has deepened societal divisions and left Tigrayans yearning for genuine leadership that prioritizes the collective well-being over partisan ambitions. The pervasive absence of accountability within TPLF’s governance has fuelled mistrust and resentment, further eroding the region’s socio-political fabric. It is imperative for Tigrayans, both within and outside the area, to demand transparency and advocate for a leadership that aligns with the principles of democracy and justice. By fostering unity and mutual respect, the people of Tigray can begin to rebuild the foundations of trust and cooperation, paving the way for a peaceful and equitable future.
But it is sadder still to have lived in such a dream as an observer—to have witnessed a people drained of initiative by years of deception and miscalculation, stir themselves and clutch at a dream of freedom, and then to see the dream crumble to dust.” It is a sad story—saddest of all for the millions of ordinary Ethiopians who, almost exactly a year after the dawn of hope, have little to look forward to except the darkness of increased chaos. {Blair Thompson’s Report on the BBC Radio News, Feb. 06, 1977, as quoted by Dawit W/Ghiorghis, RED TERROR: War, Famine and Revolution in Ethiopia, 1989, p. 24}.
As it stands, Tigray is a region devoid of law. Judges are subject to intimidation, and human rights activists who stand against the TPLF face the threat of arrest on fabricated charges and subsequent imprisonment. Numerous TDF fighters murdered, and many remain locked up in undisclosed illegal TPLF prison facilities. The TPLF has been manipulating the judicial system as a tool against those advocating for democracy. For more than fifty years, the TPLF has exercised control over Tigray’s political sphere by fostering loyalty and Aweraja-based allegiance to its regime. This enables them to wield political and economic mechanisms necessary to secure the loyalty of Aweraja-centered politics in pursuit of their ultimate objective: the fragmentation of Tigray.
While the diaspora communities in countries like India, Chile, Cambodia, and Vietnam have made significant contributions to development, some Tigrayan media continue to cling to primitive and violent ideologies that spread intense hatred and division, despite years of exposure to the civilized democratic principles of the West. Instead of perpetuating a negative image of Tigray and its people, these individuals in the media could have used their influence to promote democracy, accountability, justice, and unity to help the Tigrayan populace overcome injustice, poverty, the genocidal war, and other societal challenges through direct investments, knowledge sharing, and collaborations with foreign entities.
For those observing TPLF politics, particularly in the diaspora, there seems to be a substantial truth to this. The result is at re-educating the vulnerable and dependent Tigray will favor Eritrea. Tigrayans who advocate for democracy, justice, and national integrity must take purposeful action and act quickly. Time is not on the Tigrayans’ side. If the current Debretsion and his cliques leadership persists, Tigray may no longer exist as a nation. The moment to act is now! Mai-Kadra massacre and the drone attack on Worq Amba, where 84 innocent lives were lost, and constant airstrikes on villages, particularly in Shire-Shiraro and around Mekelle at the Togoga open market, have severely affected those injured, who lost loved ones, and whose farms and institutions were destroyed. Notable airstrikes include the bombardment of St George Church, as well as Adigrat and Axum University, injuring several students and resulting in fatalities. An example of shelling is the attack by Eritrean forces on Adigrat, Tigray’s second-largest city, which killed hundreds of people. Similar atrocities occurred in the Shiraro area, Axum, Adwa, Gerhu Sernay, and Emba Seneity, where ENDF and Eritrean troops killed innocent civilians, slaughtered livestock, and destroyed farms.
Tigray yearns for just, equality, freedom, liberty, democracy, and good governance that upholds individual rights and values and utilizes diversity to reach a higher standard. The enemies of truth and purveyors of disinformation and misinformation would relish this opportunity. We suspect this is yet another instance of disregard for legal, ethical, or moral standards when attempting to align with a regime that has made Tigray a war zone and mayhem. It is alarming and frightening that we must confront the harsh realities of diaspora politics.
One of the greatest paradoxes of politics is that only when one knows something deeply can one recognize how little one knows. A few weeks ago, I read an article by Matt Labash in the Weekly Standard where the British writer and publisher Ernest Benn stated that politics was “the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, misdiagnosing it, and applying the wrong remedy.” TPLF’s prescribed remedy. collaboration with a genocidal regime in Eritrea, is only to instil fear of prophecy and mayhem. In my opinion, both TPLF and Shaebia’s political journeys are nothing short of a blueprint for the termination of Tigrayans and Eritreans.
Tigrayans need to unite as a strong force in the challenging fight to replace a regime that has committed many errors yet continues to claim it is safeguarding Tigray. Despite the TPLF’s numerous lies about the supposed tranquillity of our Tigray beneath a deceptive veneer of comfort, repression and state-sponsored intimidation remain rampant. The opposition forces are committed to fulfilling the youth’s dreams of exercising their democratic rights.
ውድ ብውድብ ኣይትበሉ፣ ህዝቢ ክነድሕን ኢና ዶ በሉ::
Some of the demands of the people of Tigray are democracy, accountability, justice, the return of occupied territory by Amhara and Eritrean forces, the return of IDPs, peace, and security. Whereas the TPLF is prioritising saving its party from disintegration.
The TPLF is an obstacle to the implementation of the Pretoria peace agreement, as Debretsion and his clique are working tirelessly to undermine the TIRA day in and day out.