Hlaf Megedi -Some thoughts about the Martyrs
In our culture, people avoid talking about the dead. When sometimes they are prompted or forced to talk about them they will first start by apologizing or wishing well to them. Eritreans would say “mengste semayat yewarsom ember…” while Ethiopians utter “mut mansat ayhunbNna…” before they start to talk about them. These phrases show our respect for the dead. They also show our society’s wishes not to indulge into a pain that is long forgotten and should remain forgotten.
If we are such people, what is up with our tendency to use the names of the dead frequently and unnecessarily. May be I am confusing you. But I’m talking about the “martyrs” here....mut mansat ayhunbyna or mengste semayat yewarsom ember.
You might think that I have some kind of problem with the martyrs or you might even wonder whether I am an Eritrean or not. “Ember ke Eritrawi dyu?” you might ponder. I am not going to answer the latter question here. It would be the base for my next hullabaloo. However, I am going to answer the first question. I have never had any problem with the so-called “martyrs.” I went back to
Everybody’s reference of the martyrs has varied intention behind the reference. PFDJ cadres, army officials and the new elite – the so called fat cat “tegadelti” – pick the name for a reason. Whenever a “gebar” or a “warsay” or a skinniy cat “tegadalay” (yikealo) defies an order, a PFDJ official will cry foul in the name of the martyrs. “bshm sw’at beT bel!” barks an army official to a “warsay” who disobeyed an order to lie down. The “warsay” will lie down as if he/she fears the martyrs will look down (or up depending on where you believe they are) at him in disgust and contempt. He/she obeys such an order whether or not he/she has committed a mistake or even whether or not the mistake he/she has committed commanded such a penalty.
I can perfectly understand why the PFDJ wave around the martyrs’ card and exaggerate their name to an uneven proportion. I cannot help but be caught in surprise when the opposition and the people use the martyrs’ name as well. Whenever PFDJ sins, the opposition would ask in disbelief and with wide eyes “what would the martyrs think when these scoundrels squandered away the people’s trust?” The answer is simple. “Hey pal, the martyrs do not think. They are dead. That is why we called them ‘martyrs’, hellooow!” And whenever a person felt he is abused by another person he will cry “zban sw’at” instead of “zbanhgi” - the people’s use of irrelevant phrase in a rather relevant situation. I might need another “helooow!” here to make the person who cried understands the martyrs are dead.
Where is the desire to inherit the forefathers’ legacy and wisdom? Every official wants you to inherit “gedli.” Every “gebar” in the good old days of “sha’ebia” wanted to be a heir to the “cultures of the bush.” The result is what we are witnessing now.
We let PFDJ to enslave us by using the martyrs. I will tell you why I think we let them do so. It is just because we think that the martyrs died for the sake of us. But did they? It is only them and God who know the real reason behind the martyring thing. Yet, I know for sure that they did not die for me. How do I know that? Because I do not know them and I do not expect a person who do not know me to do anything for my sake. If we indulge into a further thinking through the matter we might find other reasons that compelled them to fight in the first place – such as “Gfa”, self-interest, fear of persecution for the crimes they have committed or just because they were thought a threat to the then regime, etc. The cause thing, I think, comes after the decision to go out to the field. May be it comes after an ample dose of brainwashing and propaganda.
The new elite (the fat cat) has shown us what they are capable of doing in order to maintain the financial and social statuses that were afforded to them after independence. The fat cats are those responsible for making it possible for the regime to abuse everybody else’s rights. If one agrees with me in those statements, one can also agree with the following hypothetical example: “nbel” it is possible to undo the martyrs’ death. What do you think we would get? We would have the tegadeltis – the fat and the skinny cats – both in more numbers. In effect, this would have meant that we would still have been surrounded by more of these selfish beings. Who needs more of the personalities in the flesh of Isayas, Zemheret Yohannes, and Ali Abdu? Even those who are now in prison were once the fat cats that were selfishly guarding their statuses with vigilance. Whenever a “gebar” comes to claim some of those statuses, we remember what he or she gets for an answer. At best “abey zneberka/ki ika/ki,” (as Fanuel Mesfin wonderfully argued) and at worst….just ask those “gebars” who are still in prison to date with out a day in a court of law. To see it in another way, who wouldn’t be happy if Isayas and his cronies were martyrs?
I might be taken for a person who is entertaining a contempt for the martyrs. That is wrong. It is just that I am attempting to show my contempt for anybody who contemptuously using the name of the dead. I am equally disgusted with those who fearfully allow themselves to be victims of such a mockery. We cannot glorify the martyrs by unnecessarily using their name in all the wrong places and in all the wrong contexts. You might have browsed through articles that come out in the Eritrean websites. After having insulted fellow fighters, their opponents, fellow opposition groups, fellow detractors, fellow citizens, etc, most of the writers end their note with the motto that says “glory to the martyrs.” Funny, don’t you think? I have a problem with such an attitude, such ignorance, such “be’elgna.”
Do you really want to glorify the martyrs? Then here is what I think that may glorify them, if they can ever be glorified:
· Stop using unnecessary phrases such as “glory to the martyrs” and “in the name of the martyrs” etc. in vain. That is derision not respect. In our culture, mentioning the dead unnecessarily is frowned upon and it better remains so.
· Believe that no body will do anything in exchange for nothing. There is no free lunch, as economists would say. No martyr has died for me. Even the martyrs have never said they have done so. It is those who wish to benefit out of the creation of such dubiousness and ambiguity that blabber so. I do not have anything to do with the self appointed lawyers whose eyes are fixated on the percentage they will get from their legal manoeuvres instead of worrying about the result or the repercussions.
· The terms martyrdom, patriotism and/or heroism are relative concept. Isayas is a “hero,” a “traitor,” a “harmless,” a “murderer,” a “democrat,” a “dictator,” a “freedom fighter,” a “wenbedie,” etc depending upon who is describing him. It is better not to enforce our perceptions, biases and prejudices onto others.
· Personalising the dead is more important than grouping them into one large group and put them as an icon. When they are dealt with individually, the impact of their contribution would have been more highlighted. Personalising the dead would add face to the dead. It would help in acknowledging the individual’s part in the whole picture. We would also be able to identify who has done what and when. It is always great to give what is of Caesar’s to the Caesar.
· It is also great if all those who mention the dead in hypocritical fervour would also show such vehemence in trying to better the lives of their families. It would have helped to ease the burden if not the pain. As to the pain, we are only putting a stick into their wounds by reminding them of their loved ones when they all wanted to do is forget.
· A witty friend once told me a story about how a “warsai” defied an order and get away with it. The story he told me had a power to get rid of the aura (and the fear) that comes with the phrase “in the name of the martyrs.” When a platoon leader told a national service participant to lie down in the name of the martyrs, the “warsay” simply replied “bshm swe’at beT aybln iye.” That should be our response whenever someone tries to enslave us using the names of the dead: “I will not lie down in the name of the martyrs.”
