The venomous Tigrai Online website has published, under a heading, “Establishment of National Movement of Amhara and its danger for Ethiopia” a war declaration on the people of Amhara within a day the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA) was established in Bahir Dar, the second city of Amhara next to the ancient Barara  (now Addis Ababa). Althoguh  NAMA (አብን) made it clear that the current Constitution is the hallmark of their establishment, Tigray Online, one of the many notorious anti-human rights blogspots of TPLF (Tigrai People’s Liberation Front), did not spare even a moment to call for a rejection. For a fact, the most pressing reasons for the establishment of NAMA have been the collapsed socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and sociocultural institutions of Amhara for the past 27 years. Above all, the looming real threat of the very survival of the Amhara demanded the formation of a political party that can represent the people’s voice with a stated promise of operating under the constitutional framework of Ethiopia. The plight of the Amhara that they endured for the past 27 years is far beyond one’s capability of narration. All sorts of suffering have engulfed the peace-loving people. Despite this, there has never been any single political party (nor any significant group) to have participated in the making of the current constitution and administrative structures, which ultimately denied their rights of all sorts. In this sense, the absence of a representative party, we can say, put the Amhara under a protectorate rule. The protectorate rule has been formulated by the rest ethnicities’ political groups and personalities who are groomed in the 1970s anti-Amhara movements. The consitituion gave Amhara no guarantee, neither it gave a recognition. (The details are not the objective of this essay).  Now, after a long time of patience, the Amhara reached a conclusion that their fate is going in a very dangerous course.  The Amhara youths, who have been boldly protesting against the repressive and anti-human regime of Ethiopia since 2008 Et. Calendar, sought for different ways of resisting. And it took a while debating on which modalities of struggle the Amhara can secure their survival and rights. Different groups have been formed adopting various means.

Some, the subject of this essay, argued there could be a slight possibility to operate under the constitution and attempt to advocate the Amhara problems. This group is thus the one which established NAMA. This step taken by the group should have been regarded as a blessing and be welcomed. Because it will be a significant force to help Ethiopia transform into a better country by addressing the most pressing needs of the Amhara, the significant majority of Ethiopia. And the problem of Amhara is already the problem of Ethiopia and a peaceful attempt of resolving these national problems shall be supported by all sections of the Ethiopian society, including the TPLF and their intellectual allies who are the inherent source of the problem.  However, the Tigrai nationalists saw this progress as a threat to the people of Tigrai, the whole Ethiopia, and Eritrea as they orchestrated it on Tigrai Online and on various media outlets, including a massive propaganda campaign on social media. On Tigray Online, they called for not only other ethnic groups of Ethiopia but also the Eritreans to reject NAMA and face the entire Amhara. They specially called for the people of Tigray to wage an armed confrontation with the Amhara. They recapped it that the force which they destroyed 27 years ago is on the rise; which they apparently equated the Derg Regime with Amhara, or they understood it that way.

Therefore, contradicting all reality and logic surrounding the major national questions of Amhara, Tigray Online is calling for the entire people of Tigray to combat the brotherly people of Amhara for such a pretext of the establishment of NAMA. By any standard, it cannot be taken as that the Tigrean nationalists are threatening NAMA only. No! They are revealing their true nature which was very obvious from the start. They are vowing to make sure that Ethiopia shall continue in the way it came through neutralizing Amhara from any national political and economic advantages. For the past 27 years they used TPLF infrastructures to harm Amhara in whatever way they wanted. Now, after years of protest by the Amhara and Oromo ethnic groups, the TPLF- and their allies, are thinking of backing up the anti-Amhara movement with the full arm of the people of Tigrai, extending the problem to a proxy to the Eritreans.

The published material on Tigrai Online states NAMA is “hostile.” There is no human reason to process this idiocy. They are calling a group hostile for the mere fact that NAMA are formed accepting the constitution with which they TPLF brag about. The formation of NAMA, in reality, is one of few opportunities to stabilize the failing Ethiopian state. That, in the opposite spectrum, shows how hostile the Tigrean nationalists are to the people of Amhara. And now it is an opportunity for the international community to understand the real problem of the country as Tigray Online boldly stated the demand of the TPLF regime and how they are complicating the problems the country is facing. One can conclude such irrational early call to suppress the emerging Amhara institution is the self-revelation of the TPLF mindset. They are trying to keep the Amhara banned from exercising their rights permanently for the TPLF-Tigrean nationalists can loot permanently unchecked.

What has been disseminated on Tigray Online is a negation to the demands of Amhara. However, one thing should be taken into consideration. The current Tigray Regional State has incorporated the historic Amhara lands, and that is one of the many reasons that caused the Tigray Online to publish their venomous article of threatening NAMA. In fact, restoring these lands and people to their ancestral Amhara people is the questions of every Amhara. Whether NAMA demands them or not is not an issue. Because the demands of the entire people cannot be necessarily attached with any group of Amhara, in this case NAMA. That is why we are arguing the call for war on Amhara under the pretext of establishing NAMA is baseless. What has been revealed is how the regime reacts to any question of the Amhara. And this has been the same for the past near-three decades. And after all this time they did not change.

In conclusion, the combative actions and discriminatory policies towards the Amhara, coupled by the Oromo protest, brought the nation into its failing stage. And the regime, as being revealed in various ways, including the article on Tigray Online, seems to be never learning from their mistakes. Not addressing the Amhara questions would only exacerbate the worse. And we suggest that they stop beating war drums on the innocent and mass-impoverished people of Amhara, and instead help open the political space for real processes that should address the questions of Amhara, and Ethiopia by large Only that way could lead into a peaceful coexistence. Only that could rescue the country from a total collapse. The bigotry of Tigrean nationalists should stop there. Their provocation and utter beating of a war drum on innocent people would only evolve into more conflict from which no one will benefit.

Contact : Mesganaw Andualem

**

You can read a war drum article written by the venomous Tigrai Online website below

Establishment of National Movement of Amhara and its danger for Ethiopia

Tigrai Online, June 11, 2018

National Movement of Amhara established in the city of Bahir Dar Amhara state, Ethiopia

The current TPLF and the Tigrai state government are doing everything they can to weaken Tigrai nationalism and muzzle the people for the sake of federalism and “Ethiopiawinet”.  Meanwhile, Gedu and his Ginbot-7 cohorts are revamping Amhara extremist nationalist groups in Amhara regional state.

This week a hostile group called National Movement of Amhara was officially established in the city of Bahir Dar, the capital of Amhara state. Thanks to the new Abiy administration those who spilled our people’s blood in our homeland Tigrai in the 1970s and 80s, but were defeated by TPLf are reorganizing in an open forum. These extremist groups never stopped their poisonous propaganda against the Tigrai people in particular and the majority Ethiopian people in general.

The National Movement of Amhara is a militant aggressive group which is openly threatening the Ethiopian federal system and the Ethiopian constitutional order. In addition to threatening the government, this movement is showing extreme hostility towards the Tigrai people. The National Movement of Amhara’s expansionist plan includes forcefully seizing land which includes more than have of Tigrai state,  one hundred percent of Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz states, sixty percent of Oromia state and one third of Eritrea including the Eritrean port of Assab.

At the founding Convention the head of the movement Dr. Desalegn Chane reiterated that all Amharas in the world should join the movement to defend Amhara. He added there are one million Amharas behind the movement to give their lives for the movements cause. The National Movement of Amhara didn’t materialize out of the blue in 2018. The movement has been in existence under many names and different forms for many years. It is not far fetched to assume the ruling party in Amhara state, the Amhara National Democratic Movement – ANDM, at least Gedu’s group are part and parcel of this group. It is not supersizing to see Amhara extremist groups to gather together and establish an organization, they have done it many times before, what is alarming is our reaction to the groups. The average Tigrawai and the TPLF dismiss this warning signs as meaningless, but if TPLF paid attention 27 yeas ago it wouldn’t be where it is today.

We the people of Tigrai shouldn’t delegate defending our very existence as a people to one organization including the TPLF. We need to be aware what is going on around us and around our state. Tigrai should be ready for all eventualities. The government of Tigrai should start recruiting volunteer fighters to beef up the local militias for additional defense force. What is left of the TPLF should learn from its mistakes and start focusing in defending Tigrai and its people. TPLF should start denying the reality facing Ethiopia and start telling the people of Tigrai what dangers are developing and what options they have instead of telling them they have only one option. All Tigrai civic organizations, business communities, and other political groups should start reorganizing just like the time of armed struggle.

The federal government needs to act right away on groups like the National Movement of Amhara before it is too late or before other ethnic groups start doing the same thing. If the federal government didn’t terminate trends like this immediately the Abiy government would be fighting to remain in Finfine (Addis Ababa) just like the Assad regime in Syria.

If there are Amharas who wanted to live in peace and harmony with the rest of Ethiopians without trying to dominate others or grab their land, this is the time to act and reject groups like the National Movement of Amhara. If the Amhara people did not stop this madness now, Amharas will be fighting multi pronged war with five ethnic groups in addition to Eritrea and Tigrai. At the end of the day the Amhara people will be the victims of their own reckless adventure. .

Source:- http://www.tigraionline.com/articles/amhara-national-movement.html