Oromo Martyrs' Day Celebrated With Glamour in Washington DC. |
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April17, 2008 (OromiaTimes)
April 15 has been designated as the Oromo martyrs day; and Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) members and Oromo communities throughout the world have been celebrating it every year for over 25 years now.
This year’s celebration has been undertaken in various cities. In Europe it was celebrated in Bern, Switzerland. In Canada events were held in Edmonton and Calgary. Other communities in Australia, Europe, Middle East and USA will hold functions in the coming days.
In DC it was held with glamour on the 12th of April at St. George Ballroom and Conference Center. Hundreds of members and supporters of the OLF as well as members of the Oromo community in the Washington Metropolitan area attended the event. The program started with the usual prayers in strict adherence to the Oromo tradition. After the prayers, a minute of silence was observed honoring the martyrs who gave their lives fighting for the freedom. Then the Oromo national anthem was played followed by the presentation of the of the flag of honor by young men and women who paraded across the hall in military uniform holding Oromo flags high up, thus adding to the glamour of the occasion. Dr. T. Ebba, the Foreign Affairs Representative of the OLF reiterated, in an opening statement, the importance of celebrating martyrs day and praised the diligence of the DC chapter of the OLF for organizing such a colorful and successful event.
The keynote address was given by Dr. Bayan Asoba, the spokes person of the OLF in which he emphasized the need for concerted effort to achieve the goal of freedom and democracy. He called upon all Oromos at home and abroad to be prepared for the highest level of sacrifice. He said that the only language the Woyanne Regime understands is the language of force. Democracy is used as a means of deceiving the world, particularly the West.
Several poems were also read. The event was flanked by the Washington DC Oromo band and by the presence of famous singers from Norway, Minneapolis & DC. The band played several Oromo music at intervals that kept the audience awake until the end of the program.
Mr. Ahmed Hussein and Mr. Jaylu Danboba gave a moving narration of lives and sacrifices of some of the martyrs they personally witnessed. They explained how the martyrs gave up luxury and lived a life of hardship; how they faced daringly the security and police of the oppressing regimes; how they parted from their wives, children and their loved ones and chose exile and imprisonment as their homes; how they conducted guerilla struggle in the mountains and forests of Oromia; how much time and energy they invested in organizing students, workers and the peasantry; how much indoctrination and political education they conducted to advance the cause of Pan-Oromo movement; and last, but not least, how they lead a simple life, and worked hand-in-hand with the rank and file of their members.
Representing the youth, Mussa Dawoud and Abdi Fixe gave an account of the student uprising in 2003. They explained the cause and nature of the revolt; the determination of the students to defy the dictatorship of Woyanne; the support they obtained from the masses; the police brutality with which it was suppressed and unbearable prison conditions in the malaria-infested Dhidhessa Valley. Irrespective of the terror they underwent, the two youngsters affirmed the determination of the Oromo youth to continue with struggle.
We would like to summarize the atrocities our martyrs suffered, by quoting the famous Latin maxim; “Non Siamo morte in vano” which means they (the martyrs) did not die in vain because many of them lived to witness the fruition of the their sweat in the form of the culmination of the true Oromo political Organization (the OLF) and their true children fighters (the Oromo Liberation Army). Some of the martyrs also lived long enough to see their children being given education in their own language (Afaan Oromo), thanks to strenuous struggle conducted and still being conducted by their vanguard organization (OLF) and their army (OLA); and that freedom is not far away- that it’s at the corner of the door.
The sale of the newly published book on the history of Oromo martyrs added to the glamour of the celebration. It is published by the Oromo Publishing Company.
Friends of Oromos from neighboring countries were present as guests of honor.
Faarruu Alabaa Oromoo
Alaabaa Oromoo ibsituu dukkanaa
Guyyaa si dhaabbannee gabrummaa irraa baanaa!
Ilmaan saba keenyaa bakkuma jiranii
Gadi si dhaabuuf jecha falmaa irratti dhumanii!
Kum kumni illee du'uu kan hafne si dhaabnaa
Falmaa irraa hin deebinuu tarree irra dhaabbannaa!
Dhiiga siif facaasaa, lafee siif bobeessaa
Oromiyaarratti gad suman dhaabsisa!
Asxaa sirna haaraa abdii walabummaa
Dhiigaan gad si dhaabnaa yaa faajjii tokkummaa!
Balali'uuf teessaa atis tarree galtee
Mallattoo mootummaa Oromoodhaa taatee!
Si dhaabbannee bullaa halkan tokkoof illee
Guyyaan sun ni dhufaa hangam yoo ture illee!
Gadaan Gadaa Bilisummaa ti ! Injifannoo Uummata Oromoof!!
