Letter to the Editor
December 2, 2016
Dear Editor:Usually, writers are not expected to respond to critics’ opinions of their books, as opinions are nothing but opinions. Indeed, writers reserve the right not to respond to critics, even if the critics are genuine. I respond to Dr. Paulos Milkias’ reaction to my book, Ye Amara Ena Ye Oromo Ewnetegnaw Yezer Minch, because it is neither a genuine criticism nor a review. It is rather a fierce defense of his own past historical assertions that he claims to have delivered on Internal Journal of Ethiopian Studies together with Prof. Messay Kebede (though I am not sure why he involves Prof. Messay Kebede here unless he wants to strengthen the validity of his argument) by his own admission. It seems that my book has shaken his assertions (which I have neither heard nor read in my life) to their foundation. I will prove this employing his own words.
Here is what he says:
“Here is where the similarities between the arguments of Prof. Messay Kebede and myself on the one hand and those of Dr. Fikre Tolosa on the other end. Sadly, by conflating the serious matters the two of us have raised with hallucinatory allusions, he has reduced the weight of our primary variables and has made a mockery of the rational arguments we have made. With this book, Dr. Fikre did not rewrite Ethiopian history as some may be duped to believe; he simply wove a beautiful fairy tale which belongs in the realm of fantasy.”
I wonder how on earth I would make “a mockery of their rational arguments” when I have neither read, heard, nor quoted their works. His complaint is baseless. He bemoans without ground.
Please note his sentence, which is infected with self-pity, “ Sadly, by conflating the serious matters the two of us have raised with hallucinatory allusions, he has reduced the weight of our primary variables and has made a mockery of the rational arguments we have made.” As such the Doctor’s concern in this case is the defense of his “rational arguments”, which he feels my book has made a mockery of. When the content of my book is different than his assertions, it mocks and threatens his assertions. On the other hand, it is agreeable to him when my contentions are similar to his, proving the fact that his so called “review” is nothing but a defense and a confirmation of his views. Let me quote him:
“Some of the readers of this review may remember (I, Fikre Tolossa don’t remember} that I have argued vehemently in my ESAT interview a few months ago that Ethiopians are one people though speaking over 82 different languages. So, we concur on that with Dr. Fikre.” You see, it is all about Paulos Milkias and not Fikre Tolossa. Hopefully, Dr. Paulos is not full of himself.
As long as Fikre Tolossa does not refute his arguments and disagree with him, Paulos Milkias feels comfortable with him. Check out what he utters below:
“ But please note that here I am not referring to Dr. Fikre’s argument that Ethiopians are one and the same people though they differ linguistically. That paradigm is incontestable. I am rather referring to the evidence or arguments he presents to support his assertions or the axiom of a historical fact. In other words, the problem I have is with his so called researched proofs.”
Well, if the enlightened Doctor had read or at least flipped over the 45 references I have listed at the end of my book, he would have considered my researched proofs. I didn’t make up the Ethiopian history I enshrined in my book. I used literature available on the book market, which can be easily verified, as I have listed them as Bibliography. Quoting these books as my source, I have evidenced my historical and “scientific proofs”, though it is absurd to characterize historical evidences as “scientific”. Therefore, I will not repeat them here for the sake of one whose ulterior motive in scribbling the so called “review” is to defend and prove his own endangered conventional views.
As things stand now, Dr. Paulos has not provided an iota of tangible historical and “scientific evidences” to prove that I have not provided any tangible historical and “scientific evidences&rdquo, except pronouncing that my assertions are fictional and fairy tale. As far as I am concerned, I have provided ample or sufficient proofs to support my assertions. Nevertheless, since he thinks I have not, let him come up with his own historical and “scientific evidences” to disprove mine, citing each one of his sources and compiling a bibliography as I did. Now the burden of proof lies on his shoulders.
The good-hearted doctor is too concerned about the fact that the book is selling like “hot cake”, as he put it. It seems he is unhappy about this. But I don’t want to think that he is jealous, because I don’t expect a feeling of jealousy is boiling in his heart, since I don’t associate myself with him in any shape or form to provoke jealousy in him. In any case, I did not spend five years of my invaluable time researching and writing this book so that it would sell like “hot cake”. I had to write it because I wanted to present the true history of Ethiopia so that the record is straightened, our identity crisis healed, our misunderstanding dispelled and the shedding of each other’s blood is stopped. Whatever financial return I receive from the sale of this book is no match to the years I spent researching and writing it. My joy is in achieving my goal. And I believe I have achieved my goal judging by the truth that the people of Ethiopia in general, and the Oromo and Amara in particular, now know their true history, and demonstrate a stronger sense of understanding, peace and love towards each other ever since the release of my book. It would make another voluminous book if I were to post and write all the accolades and praises I received from the people of Ethiopia in Ethiopia proper because of my book. The people of Ethiopia know unmistakably how much my book has helped them in understanding their true, hidden history and in healing their soul. Dr. Paulos has lived outside Ethiopia for ages and is far removed from the present reality in Ethiopia. His information about their current reality is predominantly from the media. I just returned from there after having stayed for five months listening to the heart beat of the people intimately. I wish he was there to gage their temperature, which my book has raised. This has happened so because the book revealed to them their true history that their gut-feeling had always known, but they could not articulate clearly. Dr. Paulos is insulting the intelligence of such people by thinking otherwise about their attraction to my book. If what I wrote was not true, they would not have taken it to heart.
I read regrettably his ill- advice to young scholars not to quote from my book in their works. I would not expect this from a learned person like himself. In the first place, this is a paternalistic attitude. Young scholars and people have their own mind to make their own judgment and determination of a given work. It is wrong of him to try to instill in them his prejudice thinking that he knows better than them. It looks that he is terribly terrified by my book, which seems to have turned up-side-down his previous knowledge of Ethiopian history. .f he was a scholar worthy of the name, he would have welcomed this phenomenon, which genuine scholars have called “a paradigm shift in Ethiopian history.”
As for bequeathing the ancient manuscripts found at Jebel Nuba to the Ethiopian National Museum, their discoverer is willing to do so, if Dr. Paulos can guarantee their safety at a time and age in which invaluable treasures including priceless books and manuscripts are deliberately destroyed, sold openly in the market or smuggled out of the country for sale to the highest bidder. Doesn’t the good doctor know better the current situation in Ethiopia pertaining to this matter?
This is my first and last response to this so-called “review”. I will not respond again unless I find it very necessary to do so. I would rather reserve my time and energy to write my next book. Moreover, I reserve the right not to respond to anyone as an author. Readers are entitled to their opinions.
Fikre Tolossa, Ph. D.,
Professor of Humanities
Source – EthioMedia