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Ahmed Raji
Person source name · identity unresolved
Names below group exact source spellings. Identity remains unresolved: the same spelling can refer to different people. A mention does not establish participation, association or corroboration. Assignments use automatic source rules and have not received human review.
Original spelling: Ahmed Raji. No reviewed aliases or translations have been assigned.
7 unique documents. Authored by: 1; Mentioned in source: 6. Role counts can overlap within a document.
(2) Weeks before his arrest, he had met Brig General Re’si Mrakh to inquire about the whereabouts of the head of Massawa’s Islamic Awqaf Committee who had been arrested earlier. Ahmed Feres is an 85 years-old Eritrean and veteran of our national struggle who is languishing in Isaias’ dungeons
"What Do You Know About AHMED SHEIKH FERES?" I respect this mand through this article and information thanks to my friend Ahmed Raji
Ahmed Sheik Feres was born in 1927 in Hergigo. He worked as a sailor and as vice captain on various Italian, Italian-Eritrean, Greek, Ethiopian and Saudi commercial vessels in the 1950s and 60s. He studied in Italy in commerical marine navigation and seamanship. Sheik Feres became active member of the Eritrean Liberation Movement (ELM), aka Haraka / Mahber ShewAte.
"Indeed, Jumaa Omar and Rahma Saleh were the first women to join the armed struggle (ELF) -- on 18 October 1967, to be exact. In April 1968, they were assigned to the ELF clinic in Kassala, Sudan. (Rahma Saleh later, in 1971, joined the PLF). Read more about Jumaa and other women pioneers of the Eritrean revolution in Woldeyesus Ammar's book, here (pages 147-149):" ~ Ahmed Raji
http://daberinet.com/.../Woldeyesus%20Ammar,%201992...
“We met there and discussed the need to form a core among us before uniting the new forces, to campaign on the basis of nationalism and progressive ideas, and to rid the others of the prejudices and grudges of the past…We decided to work in a very secretive manner. Marxism would be our leading ideology, and we would call ourselves the Eritrean People’s Revolutionary Party.” (Connell, p. 351)
Thus, Nehnan Elamanan was a revolutionary document which was initiated by the communist influenced core of the EPLF leadership, whose members were both Christians and Moslems. This is not to defend Nehnan Elamanan or to release the PFDJ from guilt, but to argue that Nehnan Elamanan was an instrument for Christian hegemony is false and defamatory. Let alone the EPLF and Nehnan Elamanan not even the PFDJ is a Christian movement. To this, Ahmed Raji has the following testimony:
First of all, the domination of the Eritrean state by the Tigrigna ethnic group is beyond question. This is a fact, and only those suffering from self-delusion can deny it. The facts and figures marshaled by researchers like Ahmed Raji prove this to be the case beyond doubt.
Concerning this question, I give the following threefold answers.
First of all, the domination of the Eritrean state by the Tigrigna ethnic group is beyond question. This is a fact, and only those suffering from self-delusion can deny it. The facts and figures marshaled by researchers like Ahmed Raji prove this to be the case beyond doubt.
Secondly, there are historical and other reasons to explain the fact of the Tigrigna domination of Eritrean political life. The ethnic question is connected to the religious question as I tried to describe and analyze in my previous posting referred to above. Comparatively more educational and other opportunities were available to the Christian (Tigrigna) highlanders. As I observed in the earlier posting, one of the effects of the abrogation of the UN-granted federation of Eritrea and Ethiopia was to diminish or downgrade the role of Muslims in the Eritrean government.
Thirdly, the question now is where do we go from here: what is to be done in order to redress the balance, to remedy the situation in the new Eritrea? In this respect, owning up to the facts of inequality and agreeing on the basic principles of democratic equality among all Eritreans is a first prerequisite. Democratic equality is guaranteed under the 1997 constitution, which the ruling regime has trashed. Eritreans who do not accept the constitution on the grounds that it was drafted under the aegis of the EPLF government should review chapter three of the constitution. Those who find fault for it on any other ground should be reminded that it has amendment provisions; it can be improved. One such amendment in addition to the ones mentioned in my previous posting may be the need to provide for more devolution of power from the center to the regions. This can be debated.
Let me be clear on one thing: anyone who expects me or members of my Commission to apologize illustrates what I called an antipathetic spirit. I will not apologize for taking a major role in drafting the constitution as some have demanded. On the contrary, with the exception of the part of the constitution which I agree may need amendment, it is my firm belief that the constitution can and should be taken as an important weapon in the struggle for democracy and justice. The tendency on the part of Eritreans opposed to the EPLF to condemn members of the EPLF and expect them to apologize for the part they played as members of the EPLF in various capacities, including being part of the constitution-making process, is not only wrong but damages the cause of a united struggle for democracy and justice. Granted that many evil deeds were performed by the EPLF leadership for which they should be answerable both in legal and historical terms. But does that mean that the EPLF members should apologize for liberating Eritrea from enemy occupation? By the same token, why should I be expected to apologize for helping write a constitution, which, despite some defects, has been hailed as exemplary by most observers?