Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Successive Ethiopian regimes worked against the Oromo. A comparatively larger population, wide
geographic area and immense economic resources of Oromia have been viewed by these regimes in
Ethiopia as the threat to their naked ambition for domination for which reason they targeted Oromo as an
object of fear and hate. Leaving the past regimes’ horrific acts against the Oromo for history we will cite
few samples from the current regime.
For the last 22 years of its reign, the current Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) regime has been
pitting other nations and nationalities, previously co-exiting with the Oromo people in harmony, against
the latter in every direction, under the guise of peoples-based federation. This has been one of the
regime’s standing policies against the Oromo.
Having Oromos killed, raped, their properties destroyed, physically displaced and their fertile land
appended to the neighbouring peoples’ thereby changing the demography of the area, has been going on
since the current regime came to power. In the west of Oromia the regime have mobilized and armed
elements of the Gumuz people against the Oromo, after previously disarming the latter, which resulted in
the death and displacement of hundreds of innocent persons and loss of millions of dollars worth of
property.
In the south and east the same plot has been going on pitting different Somali tribes against the
Oromo. The Borana and Gujii Oromo in the south have faced the same ordeal while their appeal and
inquiries from other Oromo nationals were deflected under the cover-up explanation of ‘traditional
clashes between tribes on grazing land and water wells’. The number of lives lost through this criminal
policy of the TPLF regime in different parts of Oromia is in the thousands.
All this instigation of conflict with every possible neighbouring people is done to prevent the Oromo from
transforming its human and material resources into a force to counter the regime’s overall domination. It
is only a continuation of the war TPLF declared on the Oromo people as primary enemy and persistently
carried on, using its own armed forces and agents, to this day.
The current phenomenon going on in eastern Oromia is the same process continued on a higher level of
coordination between the heavily armed regular ‘special police force’ and the state trained and armed
bordering Somali tribal militia unleashed against the Anniyyaa and other Oromo, with very high atrocities
so far. Oromos are killed, dispossessed and evicted. Hundreds, including women and children, have been
massacred to date, unknown amount of property looted, several villages burned and vast swathes of land
taken using misguided Somali tribal elements whose mind set is stuck in the old ‘greater Somalia’ dream.
This ordeal has been going on for more than half a year uninterrupted.
As a nation under occupation of and ruled by an alien regime that is bent on keeping Oromo disarmed
defenceless and constantly at risk, the only alternative to local residents is either to put up resistance
bare-handedly and die or abandon their ancestral homesteads in the face of the government directed well
trained and armed aggression.
There is no question that all the nations, nationalities and peoples in Ethiopia are suffering under the
dictatorship of the TPLF. However, the intensity of oppression the Oromo nation is experiencing is
exceptional in that the regime is bent on neutralizing Oromia’s vast human and material resources and its
strategic centrally located landmass, sharing boundary with almost all the nations and nationalities in
Ethiopia. An exceptional subjugation of the Oromo demands an exceptional solution to terminate.
Some may naively question why the so-called Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), which
was created and is run by the TPLF, does not defend the Oromo against such blatant aggression carried
out in the name of neighbouring people. The fact remain that conscientious elements in the OPDO are
themselves victims of the relentless harassment and humiliation their people are subjected to and cannot
even protect themselves let alone defending the people. The rest are simply enlisted to implement the
whims of their TPLF masters and nothing more than a conduit between the TPLF and the Oromo people.
While the entity is fundamentally organized to perpetuate TPLF occupation speaking in Oromo language,
we leave it to the conscience of every Oromo serving this system how they can possibly justify standing
idly by and watching this ordeal the Oromo people.
As has always been the case, there is only one solution for the Oromo, get organized and resist!
Succumbing to aggression that comes to your doorsteps will only encourage further aggression. It is the
success of the original aggression and occupation that paved the way for the current ones. The
fundamental objective of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and its Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) is to
end occupation and all its consequences. It is the duty of every Oromo to contribute all he/she can to
strengthen this force numerically and materially so that all sorts of aggressions are quickly brought to an
end.
The peace loving culture of the Oromo is being challenged by the TPLF regime by every means. In
so doing the regime has committed crimes against humanity for which it shall be held accountable.
We have a message for nations, nationalities and peoples who neighbour with Oromia, those whose
regions are fully located in Oromia and non-Oromo individuals living among the Oromo. Let us all be
mindful that TPLF occupation will come to its ignominious end through our concerted struggles. Taking
the side of the TPLF aggressors in the current conflict and working against your Oromo brothers for
temporary benefits can only perpetuate oppression and actually harm the eternal neighbourly relations
between our peoples which shall remains enduring. Oromo has done no harm to you. Neither will this
condition of unarmed and defenceless Oromo last forever, it will change.
Furthermore, since the TPLF regime is committing crime against humanity and war crimes in Oromia, for
which they shall b held accountable, there is no way that those who participate in the regime’s crimes will
avoid being accountable for their share in the atrocities. TPLF is well known for its ‘use and throw’
policy for persons and groups it makes use of. It can use anyone against any other to advance its particular
interests. Besides, it remains our common oppressor. This regime will inevitably fall, and the future is
more important for all our peoples. Do not harm the historical harmonious relation you have had with the
Oromo people. We should rather cooperate and hasten the downfall of this oppressive regime and work
together for our common progress.
Victory to the Oromo People!
OLF Info Desk
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