Celebrating Ginbot 20: Two Sides of the Same Story

Celebrating Ginbot 20: Two Sides of the Same Story

28 April, 2011 | By Seble Teweldebirhan
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As Ginbot 20 (May 28)

approaches, the Ethiopian public

media begins to narrate the

victories of the ruling party TPLF

in successfully removing the Derg

regime. ETV and its counterpart

radios and newspapers start telling

the daring stories of the TPLF and the strength and endurance of its
members. Again and again narrations are told about how badly
Derg was defeated and the tragic ends of the soldiers who lost their
lives, their hopes and end up physically and emotionally disabled.

The problem in this tale is no one seems to consider the fact that the
war was a civil war and those who fought for the military regimes
were Ethiopians. Nobody from the public media bothers to mention
how bad the families and descendants of the Derg soldiers must feel
every year when the heroic stories of the TPLF are told.

These stories seem to tell about how somebody’s father, brother,
son and relative is killed and how the killer is proud of that act.
What the media tries to establish is that the Derg soldiers were the
enemy of this country. Sometimes the talk tends to treat them as if
they were aliens who took control of this country by aggression.

Every story has two sides and it is true only the winners’ side is
written as history. But whether it is recognized or not, in the age we
are living today, the loser does have a story to tell as well.

It is always possible to argue that Derg as a regime followed a
wrong path that might have endangered the country and its people.
But the Derg soldiers were Ethiopian youth who either believed they
were defending their country from destruction or they didn’t have a
choice in the matter except to do what they were told to do. Bealu
Girma in his book Oromay, tried to elucidate that generation as a
collection of young people who were ambitious, willing to do
whatever it takes for their country, and of course not informed
about the details of the politics. At one place he indicted that the
soldiers of Derg only knew Eritrea was very important for Ethiopia
and did not have answers for the question why. Whatever their case
might be, they are still parts of many Ethiopian lives.

W/ro Abonesh is in her early seventies. Her two sons were soldiers
for the military regime. Yohannes, her eldest son was a 22 years old
brilliant young man who got into medical school with straight As
when he joined the military of the Derg regime. “He really believed
in the ideology of Derg and he was convinced that TPLF will
destroy the country if it came to power,” she said. He promised her
as soon as the war was over he will go back to school and finish his
medical degree.

“My country needs me now,” he told her. She believed him. His
three years youngest brother Tesfa followed his brother’s foot step.
“He liked to copy everything his brother did. He wanted to be like
him in every way and I think that was one of the reasons he too
chose to join the military,” she said. Tesfa was also a freshman at
Addis Ababa Commerce School.

As part of their generation, the two brothers used to read a lot
about Communist ideologies. Their mother still keeps their books
and articles they used to collect. Especially Yohannes was quite a
poet who wrote a lot about his love for his country and his
commitment for the ideology of the time.

Both her sons did not survive the war. W/ro Abonesh, after some
23 years, still wears black and sleeps on the floor. She is still
mourning like she lost her sons yesterday. She talks about them,
keeps their academic record documents, remembers their every
step and laughs at the jokes they used to make as if it all happened
last week. These were the only children she had. Their father also
died in the early years following the fall of Derg. She believes that he
died out of grief for his sons.

Asnakech, a 57 years old trader, still hangs a picture of her
youngest brother Abraham on her wall. In the picture he is a good
looking young man in his late twenties with a passionate look and
determined attitude. “He sent me this picture while he was in
Asmara. I have never understood the ideology but I do know that
he believed it was best for this country and gave his life for it. He
was my little brother whom I loved very much.” Asnakech still
keeps the letters he wrote to her through the years. In all his letters,
Abraham was certain that the war will end in their favor. He
sounded determined to save his country from destruction and
disarray.

“I am sure I will be seeing you shortly. We are moving forward
and Woyane will be history very soon. You would be so proud if
you see how firm and courageous our soldiers are to do
whatever it takes to save their country from these thugs,” He
wrote her on June 20, 1988.

From his letters it is obvious that he genuinely believed what he was
doing for his country will be recorded in gold in history. However, it
seems he got it all wrong. The last letter he wrote was from Shire, a
place where TPLF claims to have smashed the backbone of Derg.
She believes that is where he died. “I had hoped for years he might
come back because he was strong and brave, and I had a hard time
believing he was dead. Now it’s been almost 20 years and I have
given up. I tried to find out if there was any record of his death, but
I couldn’t find anything,” she cries.

This and similar stories are the scars the civil war left in the homes of
many Ethiopians. These are the memories Ginbot 20 brings for
many who lost their loved ones to the war. “I feel pain to my bones
when they talk about the wars and how they destroyed the military
every time they got a chance,” W/ro. Abonesh said. “It is as if my
children died again and again”

This is not to say Derg deserved a second chance. But, rather, it is
to highlight that the war was in fact between brothers who had
differences of opinion when it comes to what was best for their
country. The victory of one side is the sorrow of the other in the
same family. It might be understandable, under the circumstances,
and TPLF did what it needed to do. But the stories seem to miss
their audience. Except those who died, the people who fought for
Derg and their families are part of the present society of Ethiopia.
This should have been considered by the ruling party and the public
media to find another topic for their anniversary celebrations.

Some see it differently. They claim showing war footages every year
might be another way of the ruling party telling us why they deserve
to stay in power. Or, as the renowned young author Endale Geta
Kebeda tried to make a joke on his recent fiction, Derso Mels, the
ruling party still has a hard time believing they actually won the war.
In the book, one of the characters who was a solider for the military
regime, claims that TPLF did not win the war. The reason he gave
was that they still talk and brag about their winnings. “Winners are
not obsessed with history. They always move on to the next
chapter,” he claims.

Whatever the motivations are for these celebrations, may be it is
time to finally let go for good.
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Courtesy