Fifth columnists’ attempt to scupper GTP Forum in London failed miserably
By Dilwenberu Nega
April. 18 2011
An incredibly disparate collection of former Derg’s authorities and veteran members of discredited EPRP were dwarfed by the presence of the anti-peace wing of the so-called Ogaden Liberation Front, as they demonstrated against Ethiopia’s resolve to build the Great Millennium Dam over the Nile.
Attempting to politicise the building of a dam that is slated to generate 5000 megawatt of electricity upon completion, is like trying to politicise the air we breathe. Sadly extremists, who out of sheer desperation had become Shabia’s myrmidons, currently suffer from a dearth of rational thinking and a sense of patriotism. Such people demonstrate aimlessly, for they very wrongly believe that Great Britain is a “no go area” for the EPDRF Government; oblivious to the unimpeachable evidence that Ethio-British relations are at an all-time high. The one and only reason for holding a demonstration is the knowledge that it provides them with what they crave for – oxygen of publicity.
What kind of patriotism is this? What kind democracy is this? While they are free to have their interminable meetings every time an opposition leader is in town, they do not want us to enjoy similar rights. Who in their rightful mind would, then, want to live under pick-and-choose-democrats? How is it that these demonstrators have lost sight of the fact that the people of Ethiopia, after having seen the extremists attempt to ruin GTP meetings in the United States on ETV, have concluded that those who politicise Abbay must be mentally-challenged and hyphenated from the will and aspirations of 80 million Ethiopians.
Serving Ethiopia’s sworn enemy at Ethiopia’s hour of need and at a time when young and old Ethiopians the length and breadth of Ethiopia are fired-up to build the Great Millennium Dam by buying treasury bonds, is the worst form of treason.
Chagrined and angered by the enthusiasm the GTP has propelled in the United States, demonstrators in London aped what took place at Howard University last week and raised the fire-alarm of London’s Imperial College with intent to stop the meeting from taking place. The college authorities simply could not tolerate such wayward behaviour and called it a day. One does not expect such foolhardy acts from those considered educated and cultured, and above all from those who believe that they have what it takes to be leaders of Ethiopia. Such act of vandalism is the affectation of attention-seeking anarchists and lager-louts.
Undeterred by the machinations of these good-for-nothings, hundreds of true patriots – those who have the ability to acknowledge that a gulf yawns between party politics and the common good – legged it to nearby Ethiopian Embassy where a filled to capacity function room was the scene of an orderly and constructive meeting.
In London, as in 14 US cities last week, good was able to triumph over evil, veracity over mendacity and love over hate. Damn the Anti-Dam Brigade!