Culture and faith are the silent powers of society. The narratives could be different. Representation may be varied. But their roots are so deeply entrenched that one cannot change them by simple actions.
A government may be able to round up a few committee members under genuine or fake allegations and keep them behind bars for years on end. This is only fighting the symptom rather than the cause.
After all, one cannot blow away a mountain by digging a hole with a pick axe. Even factions stand together in case of repressive acts as they see the acts as threats to shared identities. Whatever is done by anybody is just an uncalled for intervention that would only result in some resentment and mistrust, to say the least.
Attempts to manipulate the top leaders would also be just another instance of meddling with scared matters close to the hearts of the majority of people. Any such attempt would be tantamount to messing up the cultural fabric of society
At a time when society gets confused and feels desperate, it always tries to find refuge and solace in its spiritual power. There is always one supreme power in the minds of people, the power that protects or redeems. It is this thought that makes people stand in defiance of the wrong allegation by our senior politicians that try to make democracy an all new concept in Ethiopia.
For instance, the Geda System in the Oromo political and administrative cultural system is going through a renaissance among the Oromo. Scholars, like Asmerom Legesse (Prof.) have written quite a number of anthropological works three or four decades ago.
Lately, in testimony to the importance of the system, authorities have started exerting effort to have this cultural treasure recognised by UNESCO as part of the intangible cultural heritage this country can contribute to world civilisation. Efforts are also being made by academics to research and publish their findings. The Oromia Regional State, in particular, needs to be appreciated and encouraged in its efforts to realise the dreams of the Oromos finding their rightful place in the political economy of Ethiopia.
Yet, everything that reflects culture does not necessarily mean it should be indelible. There are a number of cultures that need to be rectified in due course of time, as the rock bottom cause, poverty, is weeded out once and for all.
In light of this later group, the other weekend, I was invited to join the family to watch an Ethiopian film entitled Difret shown at one of the Cinema Halls in the centre of Brussels. The neighbourhood is crowded by Africans and hence is also known by its nickname, “Matonge”.
After I watched the film, which is about one hour and twenty minutes long, I was overwhelmed by contradictory feelings. I could not conceal my own personal rejoicing to see so many Ethiopians as well as Belgians seeming to have appreciated the film. The later were interested in the beauty of the landscape during the scene when the horsemen were galloping towards the residence of the victimised Hirut, but I have no clue as to what went on in the minds of the Ethiopians.
I felt somewhat indignant because the setting was rather a reflection of abject poverty, backwardness, lack of utilities, lack of justice and fast growing impunity as substantiated in the film. I was carried away by the thought that facts on the ground do not reveal the hopes and aspirations we have been expecting and waiting for so long after the fall of the socialist regime.
The main focus of the film was about human rights. And the producer may have been interested in the true story but may not have thought about its impact as bad publicity when screened worldwide.
I recalled Jonathan Dimbleby’s film titled, The Hidden Hunger which revealed the 1974 famine in Ethiopia and its toll that took over 200,000 lives. Food was not scarce, then. As Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen had explained, it was the lack of roads and markets that had caused the famine. The scar of the film still lingers on.
Any time an Ethiopian identifies himself as such among oldies, they ask about the past famine. That was because the world could not imagine seeing so many people dying because they have nothing to eat!
Now the picture is not the same. The market and the infrastructure are there. People are still starving not because food is not available in the market, but simply because people cannot afford to buy it. Eating three times a day has now become an empty hope. The youngsters find it easier to run away from their country.
The other week, one of the colleagues of Dimbleby, a senior BBC reporter, had been to Ethiopia to interview two of the most prominent government officials about what they thought about Europe’s deadlock on the question of migration. One of them seemed not to have grasped the point and forgetting Ethiopia’s relations with the country of Jonathan Dimbleby, answered in his embarrassing English grammar that the migrants can stay home and “better themselves”.
The other official denounced that EU’s decision as inhumane. He did not seem to note that the Ethiopian government is accused of inhumane handling of its own people, even after the so called landslide democratic victory. This answer was given at the backdrop of the interview in response to one official’s statement that the slain men in Libya were not confirmed to be Ethiopians.
Leave a Reply