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 Network
of Eritreans for Constitutional
Governance
(NECG)
Eritrea:
In Memory Of Our Betrayed And Denied Martyrs
19
June 2009
Berhane M Tekeste
Eritrea
Martyr: Beloved compatriot, Rest In Peace, Amen. But rest assured
that we your living compatriots will not rest until and unless the
just cause you sacrificed your precious life for has been realized
in its entirety both in words and deeds.
Come June, the
20th Day, it rings a solemn and distinct bell, it is
Eritrea Martyrs' Day. Personally, I pay my tribute to this day, among
and beyond other ways, by way of a literary piece. I do so by
pondering whether or not the prevailing situation in the land is in
conformity with the cause our compatriots martyred themselves for.
The answer is loud and unequivocal no! Eritrea tyrant Isias Afewarki,
one time armchair commander and brother-in-arms of our martyrs, has
turned his back on them by blatantly betraying them and flatly
denying the just cause our beloved martyrs sacrificed their precious
life and paid the ultimate price for.
Yes,
tyrant Afewarki has turned the land that our martyrs died for to be
of and for all Eritreans into a private estate of and for tyrant
Afewarki and his cronies only.
Yes,
tyrant Afewarki has equivocated the ultimate and unequivocal cause
our compatriots martyred themselves for, national independence and
national independence only, and made it and their martyrdom a subject
of balloting.
Yes,
tyrant Afewarki, has again blatantly denied and is openly
equivocating our martyrs' cause for democratic Eritrea in its
broadest sense and application. Today, tyrant Afewarki is out denying
and re-defining democracy, justice, rule of law, human rights,
freedom of speech, freedom of religion, free press, right to
political dissent, elections, and advocating the very antithesis of
democracy: Tyranny.
Yes,
tyrant Afewarki has turned Eritrea into an archetype of a sovereign
nation without sovereignty, degraded sovereign people into serfs, and
turned Eritrea into the only sovereign country without national
constitution or parliament, to say the least.
Yes,
tyrant Afewarki has betrayed and denied our martyrs, may they rest in
utter peace, once, twice, thrice, quadruple times, quintuple
times...keep counting!
Ladies
and gents, allow me, by way of refreshing the record, to re-submit
that there is no reason and nothing to be metaphysical about the
cause of Eritrea because it is self-explanatory, obvious, and
plain as it could only be unless of course one is in denial about
what is obvious and self-explanatory. The cause of Eritrea has
been about a legitimate and rightful:
case
denied,
resistance
to denial,
and
reversal of denial.
Morally
expressed, the cause of Eritrea is the case of human beings refusing
to be buried alive and fighting, if they had to be buried, to first
die and then be buried the way dictated by mother nature.
For
the sake of brevity, I will make my case without having to look out
the window, observing some one running and disappearing around the
block and then drawing convoluted and abstract conclusions or being
metaphysical about it!
Brief
case history
Like
all other African countries as we see them today, Eritrea was first
established in the geopolitical form and shape that we see it today
during the 19th
Century colonial Scramble for Africa [Colonialism] in 1890 as Italy’s
Colonial
territory
in the form of a Nation State with distinct territorial sovereignty
secured by distinct colonial treaties.
Case
denied
At
the end of Colonialism, by virtue and as a consequence of the design,
essence and nature they were first established, all colonial
territories were destined and entitled to pursue an independent
political existence in the form of politically independent and
self-governing sovereign nations (national independence) at the end
of Colonialism. And that is indeed how they were disposed of except
of course for Eritrea and Rio de Oro in Africa, and East Timor in
Asia. Eritrea was denied of this legitimate and rightful destiny then
and there at the end of Italian Colonialism 1941.
Resistance
to denial
Eritrea
was denied of its legitimate and rightful destiny forcibly by way of
various and varying occupation forces under equally various and
varying pretexts. First there was the British Occupation termed as
'British protectorate' 1941-1951, then followed UN Occupation
(1952-1962), for, the 'Federation', by the very admission of those that
authored it, was imposed upon Eritrea against the expressed will and
wishes of the people of Eritrea, then followed a final attempted
death blow to Eritrea's national independence: The international
occupation of Eritrea by way of Ethiopia for the following 30 years:
1961-1991. Yes, it was international occupation because the
international community reneged on its own limited “federal”
resolution and went ahead and decided to bury a nation's legitimate
and rightful aspiration and entitlement for national independence
alive. Eritreans resisted, for, if they have to be buried, they chose
to first die and then get buried the way dictated by mother nature.
To that effect, Eritreans fought against whomever and whatever forces
wanted to bury them alive including the entire west block, east
block, African collaborators like Libya, Arab collaborators like
Yemen and of course the main proxy occupation force, Ethiopia. The
resistance paid off and Eritrea prevailed.
Denial
reversed
In
May 1991, Eritrea did prevail and re-claimed national independence
that was denied of for 50 years thenand successfully defended same
during the 1998-2000 border war after 30 plus 2 years respectively of
bloody armed struggle and paying dearly in life and limb of those
that we commemorate today.
Back
to June, the 20th
Day. On this day, we Eritreans stop every thing in order to observe a
moment of silence in commemoration and the sole purpose of
respecting and paying tribute to all those that paid with their
precious life for the cause of the country we dare to call home today
on the one hand, and on the other hand we do look at the situation of
the country and assess if it corresponds with the cause of our
martyrs.
After
national independence,the cause of Eritrea is not much different than what
it was pre-independence: It is a case denied for there reigns
tyranny instead of democracy, there's resistance to denial, for the call for democracy is massive, loud, clear and growing, and
reversal of denial is inevitably foreseeable for it is a cause as just and righteous as the cause for national independence and liberation .
Today,
our Martyrs would be moving in their tombs if they knew what has
become of the nation and country they martyred themselves for.
Our
Martyrs gave us the republic that we all so dare proudly call home
today, Eritrea. It is now up to all of us and we are all indebted to
our Martyrs to keep it too the only way they wished it to be: A
democratic Eritrea of all, by all, and for all.
Eternal
glory and fame to all Eritrea Martyrs
Long
live all Eritrea war veterans
Long
live and viva Eritrea, vive l'Érythrée
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