Eritrea’s Martyrs Day
By- Blien Solomon
ታሪኽ ኣለዎ ቲ‘ጎቦ
| ታሪኽ ኣለዎ ት’ጎቦ፣ ታሪኽ ኣለዎ ት’ጎቦ ታሪኽ ኣለዎ ት’ጎቦ፣ ታሪኽ ኣለዎ ት’ጎቦ ሰብ ከይድይቦ ገለ ቅብእዎ፣ ወርቃዊ ጸብሪ ደብሪ’ዩ ደብሪ፣ ናይ ታሪኽ ባሕሪ ዝሓምበሰሉ ወሳኒ ዕምሪ ሎሚ ዝበለ ቅድሚ ፈጣሪ ፈጣሪ ግዳ ኩሉ ይፈልጦ ትዘሳለጦ፣ ህዝቢ ናጽነት ክምጦ ኣሎ እምባ ታሪኽ ዝኾየጦ ኣሎ ታሪኽ ባሕሪ ዝወሓጦ ይዝከረኒ መርሃዊ ከዋጋዓኒ ታሪኽ ኣለዎ ዚ’እምባ ክብለኒ ይዝክረኒ መርሃዊ ከዋጋዓኒ ታሪኽ ኣለዎ ዚ’ሩባ ክብለኒ መርሃዊ፣ መርሃዊ መርሃዊ ደም ሓዊ እንታይ ይገበር ቁስሊ’ዛ መሬቱ ከሕዊ መርሃዊ፣ መርሃዊ ደም ሓዊ `ታይ ይገበር ቁስሊ’ዛ መሬቱ ከሕዊ ብፍቕሪ ሃገር ሓሚሙ፣ ሓመድ ሙዃና ሐኪሙ ፈሊጥዋ’ንድዩ ቀዲሙ ናይ ዝቐጸለ ሓሊሙ ንእስነቱ ዝጠለመ ዘውድን ባንዴራን ዘቖመ ብደሙ ደምና ዝግ ኢሉ መንፈሱ ህድኣት ኣዕሲሉ መርሃዊ መርሃዊ መርሃዊ መርሃዊ እንተዝብርበር ቲ’ቕርሲ ካብ ዝፈለመ እንተዝንበብ ት’ዛንታ እንታይ ምጠዓመ እንተዝብርበር ቲ’ቕርሲ ካብ ዝፈለመ እንተዝንበብ ት’ዛንታ እንታይ ምጠዓመ እንተዝንበብ መን ምነበቦ፣ ከየረብረቦ
| እንተዝጸሓፍ መን ምጸሓፈ፣ ከይኮላለፈ ሰብ ሰኪሑ፣ መርሃዊ ምሒር በሊሑ ኣብ ውሽጢ ልቡ ፍቕራ ናስፍሑ ምንባር ገኒሑ፣ ካብ ሰብ ጎሪሑ ነብሱ ጨሪሑ ሂብዋ ሩሑ መርሃዊ መርሃዊ’ዶ ደም ሓዊ እንታይ ይገበር ቁስሊ ዶብ ሃገሩ ከሕዊ መርሃዊ መርሃዊ ደም ሓዊ `ታይ ይገበር ቁስሊ’ዛ መሬቱ ከሕዊ……..
ዛንታ መጻኢ ከዕርግ ዓንዴል ጨሊጥዎ ዕረ ዕረ ጨሊጡ ንመዓር ሓርበኛ ሓየት’ዩ በሃር ህጻን ገዲፉ ዝገሸ ብልዕሊ ብረቱ ኮረሸ ኩሉ ገዲፉ ንሃገር ሃገር ገዲፉ ንጠፈር ሰማይ ሰማያት ዓዲ ውፉያት ንህዝቢ ፈጣሪ ሂብዎ ዓስቢ ናጽነት ዓቢ መርሃዊ መርሃዊ መርሃዊ መርሃዊ እንተዝብርበር ት’ቕርሲ ካብ ዝፈለመ………
ታሪኽ ኣለዎ ት’ጎቦ፣ ታሪኽ ኣለዎ ት’ጎቦ ታሪኽ ኣለዎ ት’ጎቦ፣ ታሪኽ ኣለዎ ት’ጎቦ ሰብ ከይድይቦ ታሪኽ ኣለዋ ትእምባ፣ ታሪኽ ኣለዋ ትሩባ ታሪኽ ኣለዋ ትምድሪ፣ ታሪኽ ኣለዋ ትባሕሪ ቀይሕ ሕብሪ
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ድምጻዊ- ዮሃንስ ትካቦ (ወዲ ትካቦ)
One of the famous songs written for the martyrs
June 20 is a mark worthy of remembrance in the Eritrean history. Till this day every Eritreans all over the world celebrate this day in hue of emotions. The martyrs’ day, known as ‘Maelti Siwat’ is a commemoration for those who fell in the bloody struggle for independence. A thorn on our sides but a blessing in disguise, this is one of the most important date in our calendar.
Eritrea after a number of colonizers, the one fought furiously and in union was the one against the Ethiopian colonization. After the federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia collapsed on November 14, 1962, Eritrea became another province of the Ethiopian empire. The gradual collapse of the Eritrean autonomy under the federation and the constant harassment led to the initiation of an armed struggle. The Eritrean armed struggle started when Hamid Idris Awate fired the first shots in September 1, 1961 and came out victorious on May 24, 1991.
For a small country with no population to spare, Eritreans had to pay an enormous price for independence. The lives of the people were not separate from those that were fighting for the cause. It was however, the price from each and every family’s blood. The least giving one and the most giving as many as seven, every parent had to send their children to fight. Thus, death came knocking on every one’s door. It wasn’t just grain or flour our mothers gave away, but the child they reared to be sacrificed for the long awaited freedom.
During the war, the Derg launched eight major offensives against the independence front. However, the one that Eritrea paid heavily and in numerous number of martyrs was the 6th offensive, also known as ‘Red Star Campaign’. A massive power added to the Ethiopian force, the battle was fought from mid-February to May 1982. This span of 3 months was the toughest and bloodiest offensive of them all. While coming out victorious, Eritrea had to pay the ultimate price, the lives of 3000 fighters. Therefore, the Eritrean People Liberation Front declared that this day would be the day where we all would remember our fallen martyrs.
Every year the Eritrean people, setting aside their difference, devote this day holding hand in hand remembering the mother, father, brother or sister that bled for their freedom. On June 19, after 6 in the afternoon, the streets of Eritrea would be filled with people lightning a candle, sending their love and devotion with the melting thread. In Asmara, the street is filled with the old and the young, lining in with their taper lit. There is always a show prepared in Bahti Meskerem. Songs and dramas prepared for that particular day would be shown and the people’s mournful hearts would be equipped in an artistic demonstration.
June 20, the martyrs’ day, a cannon is shot at 6 in the morning. Since it’s a national holiday, every office would be closed. Thus the whole day is attributed to the martyrs. In the morning, everyone, including President Isaias Afweriki, would visit the Martyrs’ Cemetery, Mekaber Harbechatat. Flowers and another set of candles would be put on every cemetery while the people all listen the living history of their sacrifice retold through generations. Fasting is set in order until noon. At exactly 1 in the afternoon, the time will be broadcasted either in the radio or the television, and it will be announced that a few seconds would be attributed to the dead in silence. Everyone, wherever they might be, would stop at their track and stand in a heavy heart. A silent whisper of gratitude and reminiscing is given at those few short seconds. Shouting aloud ‘Victory to Masses, Awet n Hafash’ the moment will cease.
This is not just a tradition adopted to keep the history alive but it’s a fresh hot blood in the backs of the Eritrean mothers and fathers. Every household had at least lost one family member to the struggle. There are countless mothers who gave their husbands and all their children to the grave and are left alone and destitute. The tears of the child, whose parents had to leave behind, still rings in our ears. The number of people who saw their friend and their comrade being blown in to pieces, will never be the same again. This is the memory which we can’t only leave behind but refuse to forget. This day is close to the heart beat of the Eritrean people and the whole day is filled with stories, honoring our brave men and women who paid the price for us all.
