|
The
History maker
By Taher Indoul, Washington DC
As
we celebrate the 40th anniversary of our armed struggle, we duly pay
tribute to all men and woman martyrs who paid their levies, the most
precious thing a human being can offer, for our cause, our national
aspirations and dreams.
Nobody can avoid mentioning Hamid Idris Awate’s name and role when
remembering the great day of September 1st 1961, which remains as one of
the most important turning points in our history.
Awate, the man of history, occupies special place in our hearts and
memories. He was the guardian, the defender and above all father and
the founder of the Eritrean revolution. While Awate’s name was a source
of terror and intimidation to the enemy’s ear and its collaborators, it
was causing a sense of great hope for Eritreans, a feeling of
protection, defiance, and confidence in the inevitability of the
ultimate victory of their legal and just struggle.
Awate is the first Eritrean revolutionary and leader who fired the first
bullet of Eritrean armed struggle with 13 other pioneers in the historic
battle of Adal. He dedicated his life serving the cause of his people
and demanded no less than the liberation of the man and the land.
A profile of a leader:
Hamid Idris Awate was born at Gerset, located between Tessenei and
Omhajer in southwestern Eritrea in the year 1910. His father was a
peasant and known to own a rifle. Awate was trained by his father how
to use that gun. At early age, he was a very skillful fighter who
achieved great superiority in the usage of arms and developed a high
knighthood skill that gained him the respect of his generation.
Grown up in a locality that appreciates and values ethical principles
based on honesty and faithfulness, Awate was known to be a man of moral
values and a good example for them to follow, trust and was a great
leader to be obeyed.
In 1935, he was conscripted by the Italians to serve in the colonial
army. Beside his fluency in Arabic, Tigre, Tigrina, Nara, Hedareb, and
Kunama, Awate learned the Italian language within short period of time
and was sent to Rome for a course in military intelligence.
After returning from Italy, he was appointed as security officer in
Western Eritrea. Shortly after that, he served as deputy chief of the
city of Kassala, Sudan and surroundings during the brief Italian
occupation of that city.
At end of World War II, Awate returned to his village. He went back to
a humble life style where he can farm and raise cattle. The British
soldiers who were searching for arms in western Eritrea have, in the
process, confiscated properties and killed cattle of the localities in
Gash\Setit and Barka areas. In a self-defense reaction, Awate killed
one of the soldiers. The British authorities accused Awate of a “crime”
and forced him to live as a fugitive for some time. In the meantime, he
was defending his people against the British plunders and other bandits
who cross the border from the Sudan, the Shifta from other parts of
Eritrea and Ethiopia who used to raid and loot the properties of people
of the Gash\Setit and Barka areas as well.
Awate commanded a group of 40 gunmen who Actively operated against the
British forces causing heavy loses among them. Aware of his great
influence and role, the British colonial authorities decided to
negotiate with Awate in order to avoid embarrassments and cool the
tension with him. A deal was reached and the result was that he could go
back to his village and live in peace.
Awate was a symbol of courage, bravery and boldness. His leadership
capabilities were enhanced by his daily experiences through the posts he
held coupled with his national consciousness and awareness of his
people’s problems and concerns. He was the most respected individual in
the Gash\Setit and Barka areas. The people in these areas had full
confidence on him and his leadership. Many instances are told about his
courage and how he was able to fight back when attacked by colonial
police and assassins.
When the Ethiopian government broke the terms of the UN Federal
Resolution, reducing Eritrea to status of an occupied country, the
Eritrean people rose against it, showing their objection to that evil
act by the Emperor’s government who adopted all means and ways of
torture, intimidations, imprisonments, and killings. In the face of
that, the Eritreans did not yield or surrender to the Ethiopian
unilaterally annulling of the federation agreement. The Eritreans had
no way out but to exercise their right of self-defense. Martyr Awate
witnessed all the details of the Ethiopian ugly act.
Being a man of initiatives and combat, he didn’t leave events to take
course according to the aggressor’s wish. He decided to take an action
that would set history straight and restore stolen rights, but he was
waiting for the right time to take the most important decision of his
life.
The armed Struggle
In July 1960, in the city of Cairo, a group of young Eritrean students
and intellectuals held a meeting and formed the Eritrean Liberation
Front (ELF). The group consisted of the following names:
1. Idris Mohammed Adem (the president of the Eritrean Parliament)
2. Idris Osman Galaydos (a graduate of law school in Cairo
University)
3. Mohammed Saleh Hummed (a graduate of law school in Cairo Uni.)
4. Said Hussian (a student of Al-Az’har University in Cairo)
5. Adem Mohammed Akte (a graduate from University of Cairo)
6. Taha Mohammed Noor (a graduate from Italy)
Back home, the Ethiopian authorities were suspicious of Awate’s
movements and activities, and were watching him closely.
On his book Eritrea, destiny challenges, Hamid Saleh Turkey wrote about
Awate’s beginnings and how the Ethiopian police forces had a plan to
arrest Awate in his village in August 1961. Turkey explains that the
Ethiopians deployed a large amount of police forces but their plans were
failed thanks to an Eritrean nationalist within the Ethiopian police who
informed Awate earlier of that plan. Thus, Awate was able to escape the
trap and headed to mount Adal.
Awate’s decision to kindle the armed struggle was reached after a period
of long deliberations with other nationalists who operated actively in a
network and pledged to deal with the Ethiopians in the language they
understand. That decision which change the course of our history, was a
fruit of a well organized endeavors and sincere portrait activities by
individuals proven to be loyal to the cause of their people.
On an interview with Eritrea Al-haditha, issue #75, 2nd year, fighter
Mohammed Al-hassan Dohen, a long time friend of Awate and his assistant
when Awate was “Shiakh Al Khet”, meaning in charge of a district, says:”
In the year 1960, Idris Mohammed Adem sent a letter to Awate, the letter
was written in Arabic… Hamid Awate told me that Idris Mohammed Adem was
asking him to declare the armed struggle; but he was not ready for it at
that time. After four months, Mohammed Al-Shiekh Daood, who was a
famous Eritrean nationalist, came and asked Awate to declare the
revolution. Awate agreed to lead the armed struggle and declare the
revolution but asked for support. Mohammed Al-Shiekh Daood provided
Awate with arms, “3 abu khamsa” and gave him 300 Birr with sugar and
tea. In addition, Ibrahim Mohammed Ali brought two rifles and myself
owned a rifle. At the beginning we were only seven, then shortly our
number grown to be 13 fighters.”
Awate received a lot of pressures to end the revolution. The Ethiopian
authorities desperately attempted to crush the revolution in its early
stages. According to Awate’s contemporaries, a military unit in six
cars was sent to apprehend Hamid Awate but didn’t succeed. The
Ethiopian resorted to using different tactics to deal with Awate.
Mohammed Al-Hassan Dohen indicates in his interview that Omer Hassano
and Egeal Abdulrahman did a last minute appeal to end Awate’s rebellion
on August 1961. Awate responded saying:” If you want us to end our
armed struggle, then you better lower the Ethiopian flag and raise up
the Eritrean flag.”
When the Ethiopian got that defiance reply, they lost their temper and
decided to use aggressive military measures against Awate and pioneers.
The mount of Adal witnessed the birth of the long awaited event, the
declaration of Eritrean revolution. Armed with strong believe in their
just cause, Awate and pioneer made the history of our armed struggle in
Adal with very poor preparations in terms of arms, men and equipments
which were incomparable to the Ethiopian machinery and hardware.
Nevertheless, they waged their first fierce battle against the Ethiopian
occupation in mount Adal. The freedom fighters, the “RA’EEL” pioneer,
who accompanied Awate, were the followings:
1. Abdu Mohammed Faid (the first martyr)
2. Ibrahim Mohammed Ali
3. Hummed Gadef
4. Awate Mohammed Faid
5. Mohammed Beareg
6. Mohammed Adem Hassan
7. Saleh Giroog
8. Ahmed Fekak
9. Mohammed Al-hassan Dohen.
10. Adem Fegoorai
11. Ali Bekhit
12. Idris Mohmoud
13. Omer Kerai
According to Awate’s contemporaries, the battle of Adal lasted for 7
hours from (6 am to 1 pm). Failing to crash the newly formed Eritrean
Liberation Army (ELA), the Ethiopian forces retreated back and Awate
ordered ELA fighters to withdraw to Obel area then to the area of Omer
Siggo. The reaction to Adal battle was great among Eritreans. The
Eritrean people showed their support and solidarity with their
revolution. The ELA pioneer received a warm welcome wherever they go.
On his side, Mohammed Al-Shiekh Daood sold 30 camels to raise the needed
amount of money to supply the revolution and submitted that money to
Awate.
Having received a humiliation in the battle of Adal, the Ethiopians were
alarmed by Awate’s performance in that battle. They started massing
their forces to carry out a large-scale attack. The Ethiopians were
able to encircle ELA in the area of Omal where another fierce battle
took place and resulted in martyrdom of the first Eritrean freedom
fighter, Abdu Mohammed Faid.
ELA was getting stronger as new well-trained fighters who serve in the
Sudanese military forces began to join the armed struggle. Kiboop Hejaj
and Adem Ge’sear joined Awate and at later time, on February 17th 1962,
another group consisted of 11 freedom fighters joined too. They were:
1. Mohammed Idris Haj
2. Omer Hamid Ezaz
3. Taher Salem
4. Osman Mohammed Idris (abu shenap)
5. Ibrahim Mohammed Behdouri
6. Mohammed Omer Abdella (abu tyara)
7. Omer Mohammed Ali (Da’mer)
8. Kisha Mohammed Kisha
9. Mohammed Ibrahim
10. Abdalla Idirs Adem
11. Adem Gendifel
Kiboob Hejaj was famous for his accuracy at pointing and shooting at the
enemy. Asking forgiveness for killing his enemy in the battlefield, he
used to say: ”Af feni” in Tigre language, which means forgive me,
because Kiboob knows that when he points, he will never miss.
Awate led all the battles fought during his life. Freedom fighter Abu
Rigella reported that after the battle of Amnait, leader Awate and
Mohammed Ibrahim Shandi got wounded. He says that, they were 11
military and civilian individuals joined Awate, they swear in front of
him, and declared their commitment to fight with him.
Abu Rigella attended the meeting when Awate was elected as a leader
unanimously and Mohammed Idris Haj as his deputy. He says” Awate
addressed the meeting saying: “ We are all Eritreans, we have to serve
our country with honesty and sincerity, we are here to achieve a goal,
and if there is anybody who may has individual ambitions other than the
declared objective, then, he must leave now. We all have to show
extreme commitment and dedication and carry out the commands and
instructions of the leader, no matter how hard they are, for the cause
of our country.””
On May 27th 1962, Awate drunk milk for dinner, then soon told his unit
that he was not feeling good. His condition began to deteriorate
quickly. It is said that Awate called pioneer Kiboob Hajaj and gave him
his beloved gun emphasizing on the continuations of the revolution. The
next morning, Awate rested in peace. The ELA decided not reveal the
martyrdom of Awate, and they buried him secretly. Awate’s martyrdom was
made public 4 years after his death.
Martyr and leader Hamid Idris Awate lead the armed struggle in its
critical times. He laid the way for this new Eritrean experience to
take its shape. Awate died when our revolution was in desperate need
for his leadership. He has gone but left huge legacy of self-reliance.
He left without a farewell to his comrades, people, family, and most
importantly his wife and son Karar who was born in the jail in the city
of Tessanai. May Allah\God bless him and bless all our martyrs.
On this occasion, I would like to call the attention of all Eritreans
for the need to have a book about our great martyr and leader Awate.
The new generation needs to learn and understand our history.
 |
