Mekelle፡ 17 October 2023(Tigray Herald)
Beyond the mourning there are serious lessons to draw!
Over the days i have been to different villages (tabias and kushets) in Hawzien, Saz and Wukro to mourn fallen heroes and heroines from families, relatives, neighbors, childhood friends, school mates of good old days and villagemates.Too many to list them all here. We lost them at their early age. Almost all of them.
That is also the case everywhere in Tigray.
The families of fallen heroes and heroines were really in deep grief. Words are simply powerless to express the situation i observed all over in this regard. Grief was, however, one side of the story. Equally or more important was the feeling of anger, betrayal, hopelessness and helplessness. No one (neither the government nor the public at large who were accompanying the families in grief during the mourning days) has the answer to their critical questions: 1.where are we now (after all this)? 2. What is next (what does the future hold for Tigray)?
In my observation, the people also seem to be consious that the betrayal has already begun. And, they are not talking about government or leadership betrayal (that seems to be taken for granted)but about betrayal by the public at large (more accurately by organized sections of the society).
An extreme manifestation of the betrayal was the way the mourning days and events were quickly turned into business as was the time of the war itself. Families in grief were made victims of new banner, photo, montarribo, rentalcar, transport and other markets.
Business people in these markets were making money while pretending that they are sharing the sorrow of the families in grief both in rural and urban areas. That was a clear sign of moral decadence of our society and it raises a basic question: if we cannot be a moral society or a sociey of law (government) what kind of socity are we going to be?
So, the real reward of the families in grief primarily lies not in emotionally joining them in the grief and uncritically throwing in this and that slogan or empty words but in making clear decisions and taking concrete actions that dignify them. For instance,
1.For farmers, the season we are in is harvesting season and the families in grief cannot afford to collect the harvest (especially those who lost all or many of their members). Hence, the government should pass a decision that helps the victims get such service as a matter of their right. It needs to mobilize labor and resource and then declare a sort of a month or so campaign for this purpose. The moral ground of our society should also be tested in such type of engagements.
2. The government should also enact a law that grants strategically important privileges to families of fallen heroes and heroines and to all TDF members that they claim as a matter of ther right.
Examples:
_ granting them land sufficient enough to own house (houselessness should not be their head ach)
_ granting them an ID or a certificate that allows them to get free health service in all health institutions in Tigray (public and private ones) as a matter of their right
_ granting them an ID or a certificate that allows them to get free transport service in Tiqray (from both public and private transports) as a matter of their right
—And, other measures
Our society’s and government’s comittemtent to honor the sacrifices of our fallen and alive heroes and heroines shall be tested in such types of real engagements.Otherwise, we are building fictitious government and society.
And most importantly, the government and society (especially elites) should address the causes of our fallen and alive heroes and heroines to show their real honor and valuation to the sacrifices made-i.e. liberation of our occupied territories, return and resettelement of our IDPs and migrants, justice compensation and healing for victims and survivors, sustainable security and peace, owning clean and responsible government and a path to real development and democracy.
Rest in Peace Our Fallen Heroes and Heroines!
Eternal Respect and Honor to Our Fallen and Alive Heroes and Heroines!
