People always expect and think that it is a perfect occasion as well a perfect way their leader raises, discusses and explains his top priorities for the year, issues of concern and the biggest problems of the country in his interview on the national TV.  But, as usual, the tyrant ignored discussing those issues and, as a result, the people felt their dignity was not respected.  It means that once again the tyrant failed to face the reality and recognize that the people have the right to know whether their living conditions would improve ever or the UN’s sanctions would be lifted ever or when the intimidation or mass/arbitrary arrest campaigns will end.

At the time every Eritrean family is in a dire condition and suffering under the heavy hands of the tyrant’s generals, the tyrant’s promise of helps were on the way would have reinforced the people’s mental and emotional preparedness to conquer their faced problems.  Even though the tyrant does not want the people to be fierce in facing the fears imposed on them by his generals, a promise to improve their lots would have given them comfort and strength.  Putting all doubts aside, the tyrant appears to be in disconnection with the people and the absence of his showing any care must have compelled the people to take a new direction.

The new direction could be led by underground board of wake up for “your rights” and should focus on resuscitating all the dying public services on which their dignified life depends on.  Under the new direction the people should be guided how and when to resort to loud cries by staging mini-protests.

The protests could be staged against the government-owned stores, governmental departments and ministers.  Should there be no positive responses; the staged protests could be up scaled to refusing to submit to the commands of the tyrant’s generals, followed by taking their concerns with the tyrant himself.  That is a way how people wake up to their rights, as seen all over the world, and cannot be considered as a revolt.  In many other countries military officers with moral standing are seen to be instrumental in urging the accused stores and departments to admit that the problems exist and that the people in dire need are rushed with the assistance they need immediately while their concerns are reviewed by the concerned/accused departments.  Such military officers would also push for a stated time of when the helps would arrive for otherwise the affected people would change their perception of “patience till death in the name of dignity” or “patience is power” to “patience needs lightning action if immediate help is to arrive on time” thereby resorting to popular uprising considering that their patience was responsible for the deteriorating living conditions.  Many agree with the people’s impression confirming that the people’s patience ended up in helping the tyrant turn Eritrea into a land of human toys (his subjects).

Indeed, responsible governments understand that inadequate or absence of basic services could be causes for public to rise up in indignation for the government’s failure to deliver immediately.  When it comes to basic needs of life or basic services, even the irresponsible governments know that they have to act and not promise before the starved people start waves of rioting over scarcity/expensive bread and the disappearing basic services.

Restoring the Eritrean Dignity is a must for the People to Fight Back for the Rights

Life in Eritrea of today under the rule of the tyrant is agreed by the whole world to be not short of hellish life.  The tyrannical rule in Eritrea proved to be crook and hollow, not capable of protecting/maintaining the existing services or delivering replacements.  The demand for restoring Eritrean dignity and saving the people is so urgent.

Many people believe that Arbi-Harinet could be used as a quick link between the opposition and the people to boost the dignity of the people.  Yes, the members of Arbi-Harinet are in a better position to start the job of playing a role in restoring the Eritrean dignity.  Arbi-Harinet’s infrastructure could be instrumental in helping the Eritrean opposition to play an immediate role in empowering the Eritrean people inside Eritrea and restoring their dignity.

No doubt, there are out there some Eritreans who believe that change in Eritrea only comes from inside.  But many do not share the same view because the tyrant already crushed their spirit to fight for their rights and left them with either accept his dominance or go to prison.

The absolute control of the people by the tyrant has resulted in the people’s total fatigue to fight on all fronts.  Yes, the brutality of the tyranny has weakened the people to fight back and, as a consequence, the people are experiencing a total fatigue from emotional run back and forth to meet ends, struggling only to feed their starved children and trying to cope with the daily demands of their family members.

In a typical Eritrean world, where truth is blurted out and injustice is promptly rejected, the people are not expected to turn blind eyes to the injustices and oppression by the tyrant and his generals.  According to the Eritrean opposition tyranny in Eritrea, where fear and poverty are enforced, the people’s condemnation of the tyrant and rage against his cruel rule are of every second and minute occurrence but quietly as shown on facial and body expressions.  To the people inside Eritrea, moral support from the two Eritrean Diasporas will empower them to speak out and take action to restore the guts they lost to the cruel tyranny.

Many high ranking personnel are fleeing.  The secrets of the tyrant are no more protected.  The Eritrean Diasporas believe that the tyrant has no support inside Eritrea but the pro-tyrant Diasporas dispute the opposition’s claim.  The ground for the opposition’s claim is that the tyrant is only supported by those blackmailed inside Eritrea and outside Eritrea by those who are favored or bribed.  The opposition’s claim emphasizes the fact that the tyrant has totally failed to respect the dignity of the people by ignoring to listen to their concerns let alone to address the problems faced by the people.  The people are in open air prison.  They don’t have any to turn to for help other than the Eritrean Diasporas.  Yes, the people as victims of long and cruel tyranny, they must understand how they were mocked into submission so that they know how to hold on to their restored dignity.

The pro-tyrant Diasporas counter-claim that the opposition or the pro-justice Eritreans have failed to validate their claim.  The pro-tyrant Diasporas say that so long the people are not showing any outrage, it is evident there is no any brutality to complain from.  Their response to the opposition’s argument is based on their belief that Mengistu of Ethiopia who governed by terror and oppression was hated and people complained against his brutalities.  The pro-tyrant’s Diasporas circular explanations, here, suggest that there is no likeness between Isayas and Mengistu, and that gives a political score to those who claim that Isayas is worse than Mengistu in every form and shape of crimes and violations.

When the country won its independence after long and hard struggle, the people believed and looked forward to living with dignity and respect.  Although justice and human dignity go together, all of the Eritrean cultures consider human dignity as a component of basic rights (living one day like a lion) that outweighs living longer like a dog.  A political system that believes in human dignity protects its people from unjustified sufferings (in jail, slavery, and forced labor), human rights violations, and denial of burial rights to Eritrean refugees, exiled and migrants after death, if so wished by the deceased or the family of the deceased.  It looks like the tyrant didn’t leave any shred of dignity to fight back to reverse the tyrant’s decisions.

The very day Eritreans stopped or failed to say a big “NO” to injustice, the tyrant started to assault on their dignity.  Only when the tyrant’s subjects stand up for themselves and for the rights of others, they are said to be chasing away their fears.  Only then the people can surely start to hold on to their dignity, as human beings who are created equally with equal rights.

The tyrant’s policies that daily drown people into deep sufferings and pains should be stopped through restoring the Eritrean dignity and empowering the people to speak up and condemn injustice. Many caring and people-oriented businessmen with wait and see positions already could not absorb the tyrant’s policies of coercion and interferences anymore and had to move to other countries for their own safety.  Only after empowering the people, the Eritrean businesses will be protected because, as beneficiaries of the businesses, the people should know when to say “yes” or “no” enabling their sense of dignity to grow, if the tyrant is going to respect them.

Building Hopes are Basis for Restoring Dignity

There are some seasoned politicians within the Eritrean opposition who subscribe to a different angle of characterization of Isayas.  The differing characterization of the tyrant by his subjects (Eritreans inside Eritrea) and his pros-Diasporas is the cause for the relationship row between the two Eritrean-Diasporas (the opposition and the pro-tyrant).  The opposition seeing and feeling the sufferings of the people inside Eritrea chose to differ with the pro-Tyrant Diasporas’ characterization and support that of the people inside Eritrea or the victims of the tyrant and his rule of the jungle.

Despite the world’s condemnation of the tyrant for isolating and sealing Eritrea off from the outside world and subjecting the Eritrean people to starvation and forced labor as well as stripping the people of their children, properties and monies, the pro-tyrant Eritrean Diasporas are still showering the dictator with money, support and praise.  Choosing to err on the side of truth and to clear the cloud between the two Diasporas, the seasoned Eritrean politicians are resorting to bringing the best out of the tyrant as perceived by his pros-Diasporas.

The question is why the tyrant glitters before the eyes of his pros-Diasporas?  To his pros, the tyrant is the most loved and respected.  Because they see the unnoticed good by others, the pros-Diasporas’ ears must have failed to convince them by what is being said about the tyrant.

In acknowledging the unnoticed good in the tyrant, the seasoned Eritrean politicians are assuming there to be two Isayases: the cloned-Isayas who was previously stationed in Massawa and currently in Adi Halo, and the real Isayas who was previously head-officed in Qatar and currently in the UAE.  The seasoned politicians appropriate the unnoticed good to be practiced by the Diaspora-Isayas who is head-officed in UAE, while that the noticed crimes and cruelties to the cloned-Isayas now stationed at Adi Halo.

To the opposition, the political fact is that a face cannot be put on what cannot be seen.  Nor the bad can be turned into good and lovable when there are crucial evidences that the tyrant failed to recognize that fire (war) burns and kills.  Yes, the unwanted wars that have burned and ditched the Eritrean youth in trenches for life have become grounds for accusing the cloned-Isayas of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity.

By exerting best endeavors, the seasoned politicians believe that Eritreans will come together once they stop spitefulness and seeking revenges against each other.  Only then, Eritreans will be able to create a climate of cooperation.  The pros-Diasporas of the good-Isayas in UAE will be convinced to influence a change in Eritrean by pressurizing the cloned-Isayas who is stationed in Adi Halo to step down.  The people should know that it is time to stop subjecting themselves to subservience.

There is nothing that is impossible and that is why Eritreans have to keep hoping against all hope.  To see some respect for those abused, all Eritrean Diaspora should demand for restoration of dignity and building hope in Eritrea.  The Eritrean situation being unusual to set goals, the options must be focused on committing all to building hopes so as the people restore their dignity and respect.

Since the despair is on all fronts of the Eritrean life in Eritrea, the fight for restoration of dignity and building hopes should take a multipronged approach.  For the Eritrean Diasporas, defending human dignity in Eritrea starts with confronting on all fronts those who damage the names of the Eritrean refugees.

After all, the cloned-Isayas has shamed the Eritrean people by causing steep decline in the living standard of the Eritrean people and compelling the people to cross the border for their survival.  The devastated Eritrean economy along with the self-imposed border blockade has squeezed the country into submission of becoming backstage for launching war attacks against neighboring and brotherly people.  Yes, the cloned-Isayas betrayed his supporters when he confiscated their wealth in Eritrea and, as a consequence, the economy of the country was hurt because some of his supporters stopped funding his (the tyrant’s) rule.

The worst is the cloned-Isayas’s failure to put an end to his invitations for the UN’s intervention by refusing to come clean.  He could have come clean by diverting his tyranny into a political gain, freeing his political prisoners for money and allowing the self-exiled students to obtain their diplomas and school transcripts for money.  The money generated could be spent on enhancing the basic service of the country, while at the same time cutting down the running cost of the prisons by free all the political prisoners. But instead the tyrant’s dirty politics of surprising turns to biting the hand that feeds him is not letting anyone to trust him.

Only when dignity restored and hope built, the people can have confidence to say “NO” to tyranny.

Mamino

 

 

 

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