From: waseems@sco.COM (Waseem Siddiqi)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: Ethopian Muslim freedom movement
Date: 25 Sep 92 15:15:36 GMT
Distribution: soc.culture.pakistan
Organization: SCO Canada, Inc.

Forwarded from MISG-L. Interesting article on political devl. in
Ethiopia.

waseem

EVENT SCAN ###############################################################

         THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT OF OROMIA IN ETHIOPIA

Is the Oromos' drift into the jungle of secular politics
finally coming to an end?
If recent developments are any guide, greater awareness among
Ethiopia's largest ethnic group who are overwhelmingly Muslim,
(nearly 30 million out of a total population of 50 million)
about the pitfalls of secular politics as well as their own
Islamic roots may be becoming evident.
The manner in which the Christian-led Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) has
been denied fair representation in the Tigrayan-dominated
transitional government, also predominantly Christian,
following the ouster of colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam from power
last May, has created much bitterness among the Oromos.
They are now turning to the Islamic Front for the Liberation of
Oromia (IFLO), hitherto eclipsed by the OLF.
In fact, those who had put faith in the secular OLF to secure and
protect their rights feel betrayed and humiliated.
This feeling is further compounded by their sense of historical
deprivation. Even the OLF leadership was so upset that they
walked out of the transitional government earlier this year, having
already withdrawn their 22,000 fighters from government camps
in Addis Ababa.
The setback suffered by the OLF has benefited the IFLO whose leader,
Shaykh Abdul Karim Ibrahim, better known as Jarra Aba Gada,
appealed last August to all Oromos to join him in freeing "our homeland
from the present colonizer, namely the EPRDF..."
(the EPRDF - the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
- was formed when the two Tigrayan groups, the Ethiopian People's
Liberation Front (EPLF) and the Tigrayan People's Liberation
Front (TPLF), merged.)
Ethiopia's patchwork of ethnic groups is further complicated by
the religious factor. Though a predominantly Muslim country,
a fact carefully concealed by western media reports, it has been ruled
by the Christian minority since the end of the eighteenth century.
Oromia, the largest and most populous of Ethiopia's provinces, was occupied
by Menelik, the Christian king backed by the European colonial powers,
at the end of the eighteenth century.
Oromia's Muslim majority (85 percent) has been systematically deprived
of the benefits of its vast mineral, pastoral and agricultural resources
ever since, as part of a deliberate policy.
Christian churches, especially German and Dutch, were also quick to
move in and continue to exercise enormous influence
to this day.
In the struggle against the marxist regime in Addis Ababa
(its original name, Finfiney, meaning hot spring water, was changed
by Menelik), all groups - Oromos, Tigrayans, Afars, Issas, Eritreans,
etc - were involved. With the exception of the Tigrayans and the
Amharas, who are predominantly Christian (though there are
Muslim minorities among them), the others are all overwhelmingly
Muslim. Yet, the EPLF as well as the OLF are controlled
by Christians.
Since Mengistu's overthrow in May 1991, the Eritreans have gone
their own way (Eritrea was forcibly incorporated into Haile
Sellassie's Ethiopian empire in 1952).
Under a US-sponsored conference in London on May 27 and 28, 1991,
a transitional government, headed by Meles Zenawi, a Tigrayan Christian
and a marxist-turned-communist, was formed.
The conference, attended by the EPLF/TPLF (ie, EPRDF) and the OLF,
agreed on a charter to establish a transitional government in which
all ethnic groups would be invited to participate.
Guided by Herman Cohen, the US under-secretary of State for Africa,
the Tigrayan-dominated EPRDF guerrillas stationed
outside Addis Ababa were given the green light to enter the capital
and grab power before agreement was reached in London.
Two months later another conference was convened at which all groups
were invited to sign the charter.
It guaranteed freedom of speech and movement. The charter further
stipulated that if any group felt dissatisfied, it could secede.
Yet the Zenawi minority regime has targetted the Oromos precisely
because of their dissatisfaction with the charter.
IFLO's 375 offices were closed, one by one, just before the recent
elections. IFLO responded by boycotting the election as well as
withdrawing its three members from the 80-seat transitional parliament,
dominated by the EPRDF (with 32 seats!).
Large parts of Oromia, already devasted by Mengistu's Dergue army,
are now being laid to waste by the Tigrayans.
Since September 1991, fighting has erupted between IFLO fighters and
an estimated 100,000 heavily-armed Tigrayan troops, in various
parts of the province.
IFLO has claimed numerous successes against government troops.
Given the hysterical campaign launched by the regime and the Christian
churches backing it, raising the now familiar bogey of
`Islamic fundamentalism', there appears some truth to IFLO claims.
The transitional government's writ does not extend too far beyond
the capital because it has concentrated all its forces to hold on
to Oromia. It is not difficult to see why. Oromia's fertile land
provides 80 percent of the country's food requirements, the bulk of
its coffee exports, earning US$3 billion annually, and gold and other
minerals.
The transitional government and its western backers insist that
Ethiopia's problem is essentially "ethnic". Ejerso Gada, a spokesman
for IFLO, who recently visited North America, told the Crescent
International that the real problem is religious.
For instance, no Muslim Oromo or Eritrean has ever held any important
post in the government, yet when Sellasie was overthrown, general Bante,
an Oromo Christian, was appointed president for six months before
Mengistu, an Amhara Christian, took over.
Similarly, there were numerous Christian Oromos who held cabinet
posts during the Sellassie and Mengistu regimes, but never a Muslim
Oromo. The same is true for the military.
As the fighting intensifies in various parts of Ethiopia, famine,
starvation and disease spread. The regime in Addis Ababa, however,
is more concerned about holding onto power.
Its foreign backers, too, who are the real architects of the unfolding
tragedy in Ethiopia, are not keen to highlight the plight of the
people, the majority of whom are Muslims.
For the time being, the indescribable suffering in neighbouring
Somalia has provided a convenient diversion from the looming crisis
in Ethiopia.
If the fighting continues and the regime continues to drum-beat about
a mythical threat of "Islamic fundamentalism", pictures of starving
children from Ethiopia will soon replace the ones we currently see
on our television screens from Somalia.
The artificial Ethiopian empire is unravelling precisely because
its majority, the Muslims, have been colonized for so long; first
by the Amharas and now by the Tigrayans, both Christians.
IFLO's recent successes indicate that things may be changing. Whether
it will succeed in bringing about a fundamental change to restore
justice for all the people will depend much on how successful it is
in convincing them that its aim is not to deprive others of their rights.
Its detractors have already launched their propaganda war to discredit it.
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Waseem A. Siddiqi                                 Tel:    (416) 922 1937 
SCO Canada                                        email: waseems@sco.com 
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