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Daily Monitor - By Endale Assefa Addis Ababa
28 June, 2007
Ethiopian artists, authors and musicians residing in the capital jointly urged on Sunday for unity and harmony among the people and government of Ethiopia to avert possible harmful consequences from the already 'divided Diaspora.' The artists speaking at a consultative meeting with the Ethiopian millennium Council Secretariat vowed to prepare themselves to receive, in a unified heart, the Diaspora they said is divided with political and social ideologies.
The said they don't rule out the possibility that some members of the Diaspora could try to use the millennium event to instill among the innocent Ethiopian public their politics of hate and theory of divisionism to further disintegrate us.
"The Diaspora who left the country "mainly for political reasons" is already divided itself living in foreign lands," the artists unanimously agreed.
"This might create unwanted spirit among the citizens and overshadow the millennium celebrations" "The millennium event should not be a venue for political grudges," one of the artists stated.
Apart from trying to use the millennium event for political grudges, the artists said there was another aspect of the Diaspora.
"Not all the Diaspora come with good behaviour; some might be addicted with drugs which is harmful to disrupt the cultural ties of the people of this country," one of the artists noted.
"We have to receive all with a unified heart or else we might end up being an instrument for various political agenda and a place to harboring various damaging attitudes." Veteran singer Ayalew Mesfin, who said he landed from America recently, said the millennium should be a time of peace, national consensus among different political parties and the people because that is helpful to achieving development in this country.
The one day consultative workshop was organized by the Addis AbabaMillenniumSecretariat Council for the artists, the media to discuss on the ways to and raise public awareness on upcoming big event.
Artist Aselefech Ashene from the National Theatre blamed the millennium council for calling the artists for a meeting only three months before the millennium.
She said a lot could have been accomplished by working together had they been contacted since the first day of the establishment of the council.
The artists also pledged to sing the eve of the millennium for free to do their share saying they, as citizens and professional society, also shoulder responsibility for their country.
Another artist, Debesh Temesgen, from Cinema Ras criticized the council for not doing enough on awareness creation among the people on the concept of the millennium.
He said however that, that won't be so much of a problem as "Ethiopians know how to celebrate holidays." "But we should let the people realize, first and for most that the millennium is a national holiday, "which has nothing to do with political or ideological differences that exist among the citizens, period," the artist asserted.