Attempting to suppress the right of the Muslim community using the same old tactic of intrigues and intimidation is a sign of political bankruptcy

OROMO LIBERATION FRONT(OLF) Statement

To read the Afaan Oromoo Version Click HERE

February 13, 2013

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) regime has chosen to ridicule and intimidate the peaceful demand of the Muslim community for their legitimate right for over a year now. The recent documentary dramaon ETV titled “Jihadawi Harakat” concocted by the regime is part of this tactic of intimidation and
suppression by the regime. Concocting such vilifying video propaganda against the Muslim community by this
regime is not the first of its kind. Ever since their advent to power the TPLF has tried instigating conflict
between the Muslims in Anwar , Harar, Jimma and other mosques in major cities to silence them. The
current one is unique in that all this drama is staged just to suppress the legitimate question of the Muslim
community to elect their own leaders by themselves without interference from the regime.

It has been a whole mark of this regime to concoct such false drama to suppress any popular demand. The
case of OLF, where the regime has been doing all it can to mislead the peoples in Ethiopia and the international community to label this organization as a terrorist one, is a case in point. It has systematically
massacred, incarcerated, burned down their properties, imprisoned thousands of Oromo nationalists or
forced them to flee the country. However, none of these machinations succeeded in extinguishing the struggle but deepened it further instead. Neither will the current ad nauseam false drama against the Muslim community bring this regime the intended goal but its further isolation and exposure.

Unlike the case fabricated against the OLF and Oromo nationalists this time round the regime is attempting
to assert existence of a relation between the widely established terrorist group and those who are peacefully demanding to elect their own leaders without the interference from the regime. Cornering the community that is peacefully raising a legitimate demand can have an unexpected reaction that can affect the whole region.

In a similar attempt, after imprisoned two Swedish journalists, Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye, labeling
as ’terrorists’, the regime tried to deceive the international community by concocting its notorious cacophonic
documentary, but shamefully failed. The journalists exposed the repressive regime in Ethiopia
to the world as soon as they had arrived in Stockholm.

The regime wants to initiate and perpetuate conflict between different communities under its rule to prolong
its cling on power. The more isolated and rejected by the people the more vicious its tactics of initiating
conflict gets. It is desperately sowing discord between different religious and ethnic communities to disrupt their peaceful coexistence and mutual recognition. This is a typical example of the famous French quotation of “après moi le déluge” that they want to pull down the whole nation with them. This is a clear evidence that this clique does not care for the society but bent on enriching itself at the expense of the population.

All national and religious communities need to be aware of this destructive machination and work hand in
hand to check it. All members of any faith have to question what is behind such vilifying propaganda against the Muslim community at this time. This divide and rule tactic has to be jointly resisted.

The OLF vehemently condemns this move of vilifying neither the Muslim community nor any other community vis-à-vis the adherents of different faiths. We reaffirm our position that all religious communities have the right to elect their own leadership without government interference. We also demand the release of the unjustly detained leaders of this community. As it is our policy to respect the right of anyone to adhere to and exercise a faith of one’s choice we are against any interference by the government. It is our endeavour to see adherents of different faiths to coexist in harmony building on the positive experience gained so far. We call upon all concerned communities, international community included, to stand up against such blatant violation of the legitimate rights.

Victory to the Oromo People!

Oromo Liberation Front

February 13, 2013

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