http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-07-17-ethiopia-rocked-by-massive-muslim-protests
Ethiopia rocked by massive Muslim protests
SIMON ALLISON 17
JULY 2012 00:20 (SOUTH AFRICA)
Hundreds of thousands of irate Ethiopian Muslims took to the streets of
Addis Ababa this weekend – Africa’s biggest protests since Tahrir Square.
They want the government to stop meddling in their religious affairs, and
acknowledge that Muslims can’t remain a marginalised minority. Ethiopia’s
Christian-led government better make some concessions quickly, or risk
finding out exactly how many irate Muslims there really are. By SIMON
ALLISON.
You would be forgiven for thinking that the tense, dramatic African Union
elections were the most exciting thing to happen in Addis Ababa this
weekend – but you would be wrong. While the diplomats were squabbling about
procedure and protocol, in another part of the capital an altogether more
serious situation was developing, at least as far as hosts Ethiopia are
concerned.
While reports are hard to confirm, participants claimed that somewhere
between 500,000 and one million Muslims gathered in and around one of the
city’s main mosques in a blatant show of defiance against the Christian-led
government, while smaller marches took place in other cities across the
country. If these numbers are true, then the government of Meles Zenawi –
who is currently in Brussels receiving medical treatment, adding to the
uncertainty – should be gravely concerned. To put them in perspective, the
marches on Tahrir Square which precipitated the Egyptian Revolution were of
a similar size; demonstrations of this scale have not been seen in Africa
since.
Sunday was the third consecutive day of protests and mosque sit-ins, and
already hundreds are reported arrested or injured by the government
response, which has definitely included the liberal use of tear gas and –
again according to participant claims – live rounds.
Ethiopia is a historically Christian country, one of the oldest Christian
countries in the world. But Islam too has deep roots there; it was the
first place that persecuted Muslims sought refuge, fleeing Mecca to the
kingdom of Axum where the Prophet Muhammad had told them they would be
safe. The Axumite king, recognising that his Christianity and the exiles’
Islam shared the same Abrahamic roots, welcomed them. “Go to your homes and
live in peace. I shall never give you up to your enemies,” he said.
Ever since, there has been a Muslim community in Ethiopia, and the two
religions have co-existed relatively peacefully; both the Christian
majority and Muslim minority generally treated with similar disdain by
whatever emperor or government was in power, even though Ethiopia’s leaders
have always been Christian.
Meles Zenawi’s government, however, is having to contend with a new threat.
According to official statistics, Muslims make up 34% of the population;
Ethiopian Orthodox Christians 44%; and various Protestant groupings another
17%. But the Muslim population is growing so quickly that, even taking
these numbers at face value, Muslims are projected to become the majority
in Ethiopia by 2050.
But Ethiopia’s Muslims say these figures have been twisted, and that they
are already the majority. This is part of the rhetoric which underpins the
current protests, and it’s not the first time I have heard this claim.
Three years ago, in Addis Ababa, a diplomat who asked to remain anonymous
told me that the results of the 2007 census had been delayed for months as
the government struggled to deal with what that census revealed: that, in
fact, there were more Muslims than Christians in the country. This posed an
existential threat to Zenawi’s government, eroding its traditional support
base, and the numbers were fixed – or so the story goes.
A more recent spark for the unrest has been the government’s perceived
meddling in religious affairs by encouraging and supporting one minority
Muslim sect over the more mainstream others. Terrified of the potential
emergence of Al Shabaab-style fundamentalist Islam, Zenawi’s administration
has promoted one particular sect of Islam, the Al Ahbash, which opposes
ultra-conservative ideology and rejects violence. This has included
appointing Al Ahbash clerics to lead the Supreme Council of Islamic
Affairs, despite the fact that the Al Ahbash are pretty far from mainstream
Islam – in Ethiopia and anywhere else. “It (Al Ahbash) has the right to
exist in Ethiopia, but it is unacceptable that the Council tries to impose
it on all members of the Muslim community," Abubeker Ahmed, head of an
independent Islamic arbitration committee, told Reuters.
All this takes place against the backdrop of a highly autocratic state.
Meles Zenawi would describe it as a benevolent autocracy, but human rights
watchdogs would beg to differ. “Ethiopian authorities continued to severely
restrict basic rights of freedom of expression, association, and assembly.
Hundreds of Ethiopians in 2011 were arbitrarily arrested and detained and
remain at risk of torture and ill-treatment,” wrote Human Rights Watch in
their World Report 2012.
Restrictions on journalists are particularly tight, making it very
difficult to gauge accurately what’s going on in the country. Nonetheless,
it’s a story that needs to be covered; it’s clear that the tinderbox of
religious divisions, strong-arm responses from the state, historical
inequalities and modern demographic shifts has the potential to turn ugly.
A media source in Addis Ababa told the Daily Maverick that tensions were so
high that the smallest spark could cause a conflagration. And with Zenawi
out of action in Brussels, who is around to put out the fire? *DM*
Read more:
- Ethiopia mosque sit-ins see deaths, arrests* *on Reuters
Africa<
http://af.reuters.com/article/ethiopiaNews/idAFL6E8IF1SN20120715>
*Photo: Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi addresses a news conference
during the 20th Extraordinary Summit of IGAD Heads of state meeting in
Addis Ababa January 27, 2012. REUTERS/Noor Khamis*
Received on Mon Jul 16 2012 - 23:30:59 EDT
