Last week a reader wrote to us from Ethiopia to comment on the following:
I am Ethiopian, born again Christian from Oromo. I am Qerro (unmarried Oromo whether Muslim, orthodox Christian, or born-again Christian is Qerro). currently, the politics in Ethiopia is related to political views about how this country is established. Oromo people constitutes the largest Christian community in the country.
The Muslim Oromo and Christian Oromo have the same view when it comes to the politics of this country. Today many Oromo who are from all religion are in prison because of their political view.
Many are killed by government forces every day. The false allegation made by the newspapers is to get the attraction of European countries because you are Christians, this false allegation will only harden the heart of our Muslim brothers who have nothing to do with this political game.
It makes it hard for us to teach the gospel of Christ because we are falsely accusing them of killing Christians.
You can check internationals politicians like from the professor from Norway at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204273654102201&set=a.10204273654582213&type=3
God bless you and pray for Ethiopia that God may give understanding to the leaders based on discerning of righteousness, judgement and equity (Proverb 2:9)
I am a also a born again Christian and journalist who attentively follow the situation in Ethiopia. However, as an Oromo and ”Qeerroo” myself I am not happy with the content you wrote last time regarding the unrest happen in Ethiopia, Oromia region. You stated that Christians are being killed by the ”Qeerroo” or Muslims. This allegation is totally against the cause of Oromo people and the message of the Gospel of Christ. I think it came from wrong source of information and lack of information about the real political scenario in Ethiopia.
First of all, ”Qeerroo” is not distinct to only Muslims; it does mean any young Oromo be it Muslim, Christian or Wakefata. The literal meaning for ”Qeerroo” is ”Young.” Regarding that specific even, more than 170 people were killed of which many of them by security forces. From those killed civilians, more than 70 of them are Oromos and majority of them are Muslims.
This happened after the most popular Oromo musician Hachalu Hundessa was assassinated by unknown people. A wave of popular protest was seen and the government treated protestors and formidable Oromo politicians in unusual manner. With in 24 hours after the artist was assassinated, influential Oromo politicians such as Jawar Mohamed, who helped the Prime Minster Abi Ahmed, to the echelon of power sent to jail. Instead of calming down the scenario, the government exacerbated the tension by killing the protestors and arresting popular Oromo politicians. Imagine, many of those who are arrested are Protestants and Muslims, even not Orthodox Christians.
Secondly, you have to understand the cause of Oromo people. We the Oromo people are Muslims, Christians and Wakefata are almost the same on political cause. Now days in Ethiopia, more than 20,000 Oromos are in detention and thousands killed not because they are Christians, Muslims or other, just because they have different political view from the government.
As a brother in Christ I recommend you to check the facts before releasing to the public and check the impartiality of your source.
Stay blessed!