Berhan I read your interpretation of what you called the "true" history
of Eritrean armed struggle. Though I tried to see what you wrote with an
open mind, at the end I was left with an uncomfortable feeling for the
obvious reasons Amanuel mentioned. It is clear that there is an ample
past history (armed or not) of Eritrea that is yet to be explored, but
if we depart from presenting it in an objective way it may be better
left untold.
If we are to believe Eritrea belongs to all of us equally, why is it
important who initiated what. Your perspective of history as you
presented it could be taken by some as an attempt to put one religious
sect of the society to be more Eritrean than the other. What is next?
Are we going to classify our martyrs as to which religious group they
belong and claim history should fever one or the other because the
majority belongs to one or the other religious group? Which is more
important our patriotic identity as Eritreans or our religious
affiliation to this group or that?
If we put names to our historical figures with out hitting home the fact
that that person belongs to which religious group, I don't think it is
hard for the reader to figure out who is Muslim or Christian. Berhan,
though your piece was very interesting, in my opinion it gives the
impression of being a biased one. My whole point is let us not succumb
to the temptations of presenting a one-sided historical perspective time
and time again.
Blessings to all
Biniam
P.S. I would like to know more about the iconic figure in our history
Hamid Idris Awate. Who is he? How did he get to be involved in the armed
struggle? Was he a local hero or he had a grander vision of a free
Eritrea when he set out to fight the enemy? Where and how did he die? I
would appreciate it if anyone can tell me/us his story. Thanks.