Excrept from
Religion and Ethnicity in Eritrean Politics (Part III) By Woldeyesus Ammar Aug 25, 2003, 22:44 PST
Dangers of Polarization
Herui Tedla: In the 1970’s, and in spite of the effects of Nehnan Elamanan on Christian/Moslem relations, the Eritrean Liberation Front was receiving in its ranks a large number of new fighters from the Eritrean highlands. By the time the ELF was holding its second National Congress in May 1975, the number of newcomers, most of them Christians, was much larger than the old fighters already in the field. By using for political ends the issue of their representation in the congress, Herui Tedla Bairu let himself to be perceived as the ‘leader’ of the new force which automatically turned out to be divisive on religious and ethnic (pan-Kebessan) lines. To my judgement then and now, the unwise act of depriving Herui a seat at the 41-member Revolutionary Council of the day added fuel to the fire. The end result was the so-called ‘Falul’ phenomenon that depleted the ELF of a large number of fighters. This incident further deepened religious mistrust among many fighters and the general society. It was an additional negative input to what was going on in the society by the cells of hatred and enmity in the field - the Wahyos of Isayas.
Sometime in late 2002, Herui Tedla was quoted to have stated that the regime in Asmara was receiving a massive support of “Eritrean Christians” and gave to his listeners the impression that the “Eritrean Moslems” are almost alone to confront it. That statement could be an interesting issue for valid academic argument. But stated in a wide-open public fora or, to be exact, football stadiums in the Sudan packed with huge audiences of innocent listeners who would interpret things as per prevailing perceptions, Herui’s grossly inadvertent assertion was at least as damaging and as polarising as the Falul phenomenon that he unleashed on Eritrea quarter of a century earlier. Regardless of the degree of his sin, Herui is another unrepentant polarizer.