HARARI INDIGNATION
APRIL 25, 2023
It is public knowledge that Hararis’ political, social, and economic rights
have been eroded deeply during the last four stormy years by the works of some
conspiratorial and nefarious forces who operate under the guidance of some
government officials.
During these dishonorable maneuvers that made us victims on our native
land, farmlands have been expropriated, school compounds were transformed
into illegal settlements outposts, private homes, and lands were stolen in brazen
daylight, and businesses were either looted or burned to the ground all under the
systematic administrative impunity that has reigned in the city. Even cultural
costumes and styles including numerous heritage gems that represent the
community’s history and cultural identity are not spared from the synchronized
cultural, political, and economic wars. The buffer zone delineated by UNESCO to
preserve the architectural integrity of the city and to conserve its heritage values
for all is also violated at many levels. In the debacle, the federal and regional
government officials have immensely failed Hararis from the onset by denying the
due legal protections in all the aforementioned and other related accounts. This
amounts to gross violations and illegal transgressions of Harari’s civil rights to
live and thrive in peace and liberty on the land of our ancestors.
Against the backdrop of all the abuses and rights violations Hararis forced
to shoulder; recently an author of a book called Topia in Cahoots with some
fringe elements from Silt’e zone emerged seemingly to address the cumulative
socio-political grievances the society garnered since the start of the regional
administrative system in Ethiopia. Topia is a 500 – odd- page book written
(plagiarized) by Engineer Khalid. The book is nothing but a plagiarized and
fabricated version of history brought into the scene to satisfy the convoluted ego
of the author and his supporters who want to see Harar without Hararis and
Hararis without history. Since 1993, Silt’es have been repeatedly contemplating
through a series of masked political agendas that they dare not to put forward
openly, but try to dog-whistle the federal government on their long-standing
ambitions to form a regional government fractionating from the southern
agglomerate of nations, nationalities, and people. To justify and to bring their
ill-conceived stance into the political light; the purposefully incorporated duo first
start to inflate and aggrandize their tribe beyond the limits of what a rational mind
can grasp and secondly, they indulge in re-orienting history on terms favorable to
their ambitions by erasing Hararis from history books. Though the move carries
no weight and is irrelevant and inconsequential to Hararis for it cannot make a
single dent in a civilization so rich and well-documented by the national and
international academic spheres. Hararis have a history that spans far more than
a millennium year with kingdoms that endured an 1886 barbaric invasion and
subsequent absorption of the kingdom into the Ethiopia Empire. Hararis are
direct descendants of the Harla civilization who settled in the eastern plateau of
Ethiopia and established a city-state with a distinct culture through a series of
kings and kingdoms. In the early days of their history, like many other ancient
cities, the society was mainly supported by farming activities and later
incorporated trade and commerce as the city started to grow and develop.
Archaeological evidence indicates commercial trade undertaken with the
highland Abyssinian to the west and a network of trade routes in the east to link
the mainland to the port at Zeila and Barbera. Even though the exact timeline is
not well documented, the discovery of some Chinese coins and pieces of pottery
further suggests that trade links have reached as far as the Far East during its
climax. Hararis were pioneers in terrace farming, herbal medicines, bookbinding
works, coin minting, Jewelry making techniques, wood and stone carving, and
building permanent residences and mosques using stones and mud as mortar.
With time, they acquired far better civil administrations supported by meticulously
drafted taxation and land registry systems before the advent of Menilik’s war of
conquest and subjugations. The Jugal wall and the five gates that still stand are
historic testimony that leads UNESCO to register the city as one of the world
heritage architectural achievements. Hararis were also prolific writers since the
twelve hundreds. Many copies of the Quran and other Arabic books and
manuscripts are on display in many museums in Harar and abroad. In 2017,
Sana Mirza a Pakistani scholar on Islamic art reviewed in detail Quran
manuscripts produced between the 17th and 19th centuries in the city of Harar
as part of a doctoral dissertation. In the study, she indicated that the calligraphic
styles and the artistic touches found on the manuscripts were distinctly different
from those produced elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as across to the
Red Sea and Indian Ocean; indicating Hararis to have mastered their in-house
writing skills and decorative. Arts. The culturally rich Hararis in all likelihood have
influenced and contributed to the advancements of urban lifestyle and the
development of modern-day Ethiopia
However, the deceptive course the so-called Silt’e learned stocks
embarked on to play the game is very insidious to Hararis who always consider
them as one of our own separated as a result of some unavoidable natural
circumstance. Silt’e elites including the author of Topia, rather than bringing
forward their concerns and aspirations to the federal government directly, prefer
to fabricate false historical narratives of what they are not at the expense of
Hararis. At present, there are many political and social hurdles involved to form a
new region in Ethiopia. Further, the current structural setup of the incumbent
party does not have a conducive platform to the effect. Silt’es are and will be
better served as being part of the historically rich and proud Harari nation who
under some circumstances migrated to the south either as religious scholars or
as part of Imam Ahmed’s army that ruled what is today called Ethiopia and
beyond. Engineer Khalid and his cartel supporters have to comprehend that
history can only be made through time, not pirated or purchased as daily
convenience products in the market. Going forward, the honorable and principled
thing to do for the Engineer is to retract and rescind all the fabricated narratives
employed to undermine Hararis history and an explicit pronouncement from his
supporters to condemn the misguided and unethical attempts followed that
potentially create a rift between the two people who have a lot in common to
share.
Finally, in light of the current state of affairs of the country where piracy of
culture and history became the new normal, compounded by the unpredictable
political drama that spins along the axis of the three dominant ethnic groups,
Oromo- Tigray – Amhara; smaller nations have to stand the test of the time by
working together to protect centuries-old heritages from complete demise or total
absorption by the culture who holds the political power. Nonetheless, it is a
common understanding that history is not an exact science, and credible
disputes on some divergent views are normal and might arise from time to time
that can be subject to genuine academic debates, However, deliberate attempts
to alter and dilute one’s history to fit the other’s distorted view is simply
unacceptable. Harari unity on our history is not only desirable but essential to
shield and protect our past from such writers and also from provocateurs that
have crowned the social media platforms spewing betrayals and deceit.
To do this, a historical society of Harris has to be established with the
stated purpose to increase the public knowledge of Hararis history through
meetings, publications, and sponsored researchers on issues that range from
pre- to post-occupation of our nation.
- ZUBER ABDURAMAN
CHAIRPERSON
HARARI COMMUNITY OF OTTAWA