Amba Giorgis, Ethiopia -
Etenesh* sits alone on a worn cow skin in her mud-walled home in Amba
Giorgis, a small Ethiopian market town in the northerly Amhara region.
Her husband, a merchant, was arrested early in November, due to his
alleged participation in anti-government protests over the last few
months.
"He was taken to a military camp," says Etenesh, a mother of two who
sells coffee to farmers from her shack. "I know that because he called
me twice."
She does not know when, or if, he will come back, but she does know
that life without the family's primary breadwinner is tough. "It's just
me now, trying to provide for my kids."
Talk of arrests is prevalent in Amba Giorgis, which is part of the
North Gondar district experiencing clashes between armed farmers and the
military.
On the edge of town, government soldiers man a new checkpoint. They
moved into a road construction camp, following the declaration of a
sweeping
state of emergency on October 8 in response to the unrest among
Ethiopia's two largest ethnic groups: the
Oromo, who make up around one-third of the population, and the Amhara.
On July 31, residents of Gondar, which is around 700km north of the
capital, Addis Ababa, came out to demonstrate amid a long-standing
territorial dispute with the neighbouring Tigray region. During
Ethiopia's transition from a unitary to a federal state in the early
1990s, some Amhara claim they lost territory to Tigrayans when the
country was restructured along ethnolinguistic lines.
The demonstrations have been used as a platform to voice discontent
over alleged government repression of the Amhara as well as to promote a
budding ethnic nationalism among them. The Amhara are the
second-largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, constituting 27 percent in the
country of nearly 100 million people.
The ruling coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic
Front (EPRDF), is a grouping of four ethnic-based parties, including
Oromo, Amhara and Tigray parties. The Tigray People's Liberation Front (
TPLF), is the founder of the EPRDF and is
perceived to be the powerhouse of the coalition, even though Tigrayans represent just six percent of the population.
Pro-TPLF
commentators believe that the Amhara wing of the coalition, the Amhara National Democratic Movement, gave its
blessing
to the Gondar protest as part of an attempt to reduce TPLF dominance.
But events gathered momentum, when the sentiments on display in Gondar
reverberated in the following weeks, as thousands of ethnic Amhara hit
the streets in towns like Amba Giorgis.
During the protests, slogans reflected a sense of victimisation.
"Being an Amhara is not a crime," read one. "Respect Amharaness," said another.
Properties associated with the ruling coalition were attacked, and
the main road leading to the tourist-magnet Simien Mountains was
blockaded.
The
government's emergency decree,
which, among other things, bans most political activity, including
watching opposition satellite channels, has seen tens of thousands
detained on suspicion of being party to the unrest.
"Some 11,607 individuals have so far been detained in six prisons, of
which 347 are female, in connection with the state of emergency
declared in the country," official Taddesse Hordofa said in a televised
statement on November 12 after the state of emergency was implemented.
The measure has returned a degree of order to Ethiopia. However, underlying issues remain.
 |
| Amba Giorgis, in North Gondar, in Amhara region, has
seen increased demonstrations and a rise in nationalist identity
[William Davison/Al Jazeera] |
Split identity
The Amhara held
privileged positions during the imperial era that ended with Emperor Haile Selassie's overthrow in 1974. Some EPRDF's
federalists insist that they remain loyal to ideas from that time and are suspicious of the current arrangement.
For hundreds of years, the language and culture of Ethiopia's
imperial courts was Amharic and, for many, advancement in career or
social status depended on assimilating to it and many ambitious members
of other ethnicities adopted Amhara customs.
By the 20th century, the Amhara culture had become the culture of the
educated and of urban "elites" who were often ethnically mixed,
according to the historian, Takkle Taddese. As a result, the Amhara can
be seen as "a supra ethnically conscious ethnic Ethiopian serving as the
pot in which all the other ethnic groups are supposed to melt," writes
Taddese in his essay, titled: Do the Amharas Exist as a Distinct Ethnic
Group?
When the EPRDF came to power in 1991 and ushered in federalism, the
Amhara were treated just as any other ethnic group: a collection of
people with their own identity and territory - a premise with which
proponents of contemporary Amhara nationalism agree.
The Amhara have existed as a distinct community for thousands of
years, fulfilling "all the basic markers of an ethnic group: distinct
language, distinct culture, collective national memory and experience
and so forth", argues Wondwosen Tafesse, an academic based in Norway and
a commentator on Amhara issues.
But even with surging ethnic assertiveness, many Amhara are still
likely to give precedence to pan-Ethiopian identity, as Amhara
nationalism is not an end in itself, according to Wondwosen.
Rather, it is a reaction to "fend off multiple attacks, real and
imagined", he says. The expulsion in 2013 of thousands of Amharas by
regional officials from Southern People's Regional State and
Benishangul-Gumuz , according to a report by The Human Rights Congress of Ethiopia, is raised to support allegations that the government
deliberately targets ethnic Amharas.
For opposing Amhara elites, who had to grapple with the pre-eminent
questions of identity during EPRDF rule, ethnic nationalism was
antithetical to pan-Ethiopian nationalism.
An unknown future
Even with a growing sense of ethnic nationalism, pan-Ethiopian
nationalism still enjoys wider acceptance among the Amhara elites,
argues Chalachew Taddese, a contributor for Wazema, a non-profit radio
station founded by exiled Ethiopian journalists based in Europe and the
United States. Amhara nationalists, therefore, have to tackle those who
see an excessive ethnic focus as compromising the nation's integrity.
Taddese says two factors have contributed to the increase in Amhara
identity: "A growing perception of ethnic discrimination" by the
government and "persistent anti-Amhara campaigns" by Oromo elites, who
portray the group as "a historical coloniser and victimiser of all other
ethnic groups".
If Amhara nationalism grows in prominence, the relationship with Oromo nationalism might be decisive for the country's future.
 |
| The market town Amba Giorgis, in the North Gondar
region, where farmers have been clashing with the military in nearby
areas recently [William Davison/Al Jazeera] |
During the protests, Oromo and Amhara nationalists displayed signs of solidarity in the face of what they believed to be a common enemy: the TPLF. But, there were always questions about the camaraderie and whether it was meaningful and sustainable.
The Oromo rose up in November 2015 amid complaints that they have
been politically and economically marginalised under a federal system
that promised them autonomy. The protests were a testament to a
reinvigorated Oromo nationalism.
Unlike its nascent Amhara equivalent, Oromo nationalism goes back a
half-century, with an established ideology, institutions and
aspirations.
Any secessionist Oromo tendencies cause alarm among Amharas, who promote their identity within a multinational Ethiopia.
But Oromo nationalism is also predicated upon alleged persecution by
Amhara elites during the imperial era. Accordingly, Amhara nationalism,
if it solidifies, "will be forced to counteract the narratives of Oromo
elites", Chalachew says.
One battleground will be the legacy of Menelik II, a late
19th-century emperor whose military campaigns shaped the boundaries of
modern Ethiopia. Oromo nationalists, who want to remove his statue in
the heart of Addis Ababa,
see him as an Amhara imperialist conqueror.
Amid these immediate and pressing challenges, the rise in Amhara
nationalism creates more turbulence in the region, raising questions
that no one yet seems able to answer.
 |
| A section of the royal castle compound in Gondar.
The city's history as a power centre is playing into recent
ethnic-related unrest [William Davison/Al Jazeera] |
*Names has been changed for privacy purposes.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
