Birtukuan, Tell Me!

By Ghelawdewos Araia                                             

What have you done my dear

To be thrown into the jail of Qaliti

Is it your elegant appearance?

Or your formidable political stance

Is it your political consciousness?

Or your stubbornness for not apologizing

Is it your conscience and love for Ethiopia ?

Or your unassuming tenacity

Is it your incompatibility with the status quo?

Or your determination to uplift your motherland Ethiopia

Why have they condemned you for expressing your ideas?

Are your jailers terrified by your eloquence and magnanimity?

Or, are they nightmarish by your steadfast personality

Which is it, I like to know my dear?

It seems to me, but I can only speculate!

You have become a victim for your political propaganda

And more specifically, for your decision to support the Forum agenda

If that is the case, then you are a political prisoner; a prisoner of conscience

And not an individual that have transgressed the law of the land 

Perhaps your principles put you at variance with the accepted norm

The culture of callous silence that you won�t accept or affirm

Birtukuan, Birtukuan, Birtukuan Medeqsa

Please tell the world why you are behind bars at Qaliti

Although we know that you are there for your leadership quality

Your charismatic ability

Your sound, solid, and unparalleled dedication to your country�s longevity

But you may have spoken in public

You may have unwittingly amplified the magnitude of your own reactions

That may have given your jailers a chance to charge you with impunity

Although you may have marshaled some zeal and confidence

That could have triggered enemy vengeance with ferocity

Or, you may have entertained a wide-ranging outlook at Ethiopian politics

That could have maximized the potential of opposition-led governance

Thus, your jailers would pick on you to delay your political tasks

And temporarily create havoc to your collective initiatives and programs

Where is justice, my dear, do you know?

That you have presided over in the past

And that you very well understand its content and format

Why have they denied your fundamental rights?

If at all, you have only expressed your foresight

Birtukuan, you were perhaps an easy prey!

In the Serengeti when the big cats hunt

They look for relatively young and feeble prey

But I happen to know otherwise

In politics, weak enemies are accommodated

And strong rivals relegated

Till you come out from the dungeon and see the Sun again

Tell me if you can hold on to hope, a factor of solace amid affliction

Reassure me that you will never yield

To the disempowering function of your prosecutors

Tell me if you can envision the anticipated future

Draft a plan in your solitude for your eagerly awaited freedom

Birtukuan, you are part of the energy that can create the future of Ethiopia

You are part of the collective that will shape the future of Ethiopia

You are the promise and pride of our motherland

A jewel in the crown

A rare commodity, not easy to find!

All Rights Reserved. Copyright � IDEA, Inc. 2009. Dr. Ghelawdewos Araia can be contacted for educational and constructive feedback at [email protected]

[December 12, 2009]