The Unbreakable Moral: Tegaru also sing in time of adversity

Kalayu Abrha 01-03-21

 

It is the typical display of the indestructibility of the moral of Tegaru that can be seen in the picture taken by Nariman El-Mofty/AP, where refugee children sing and dance inside a tent run by UNICEF in Umm Rakouba refugee camp. The Amhara wrong, as they always are, about Tegaru have this proverb intended to belittle: "When God desires to hear songs, He fills the Tegaru belly". Tegaru like gold shine brighter with burning. They are like red-hot charcoal that continues to fume after it is deeply buried by pile of ash. Meles Zenawi, the great Tigrayan sage and political leader has once described the Tigrayan character in time of adversity. He recalled the 1984-85 drought and the dignified manner the hungry Tigrayans behaved on the relief food distribution queues.

Whether or not Tegaru are poorly or heavily armed the biggest weapon in their arsenal is what they call "habo or nihh" (h has a guttural sound). Number one in the priority list of targets for the enemies of Tigray is this; but it is never hit and never dies before the bearer. Throughout the centuries, 19th to 21st, Menilik, Haileselassie and Mengistu have done their best to kill the moral of Tegaru because they knew that is where the impregnable fortress of Tegaru, in their war of self defence, is located. They have succeeded to kill them, starve them, displace them, impoverish them, but failed to deny them their potential to rise again and again. The afore mentioned enemies and the current Tripartite invaders as well, have thought Tigray is dead everytime they claim military victory by an unequal force. They are oblivious to the survival instinct that is in every Tigrayan DNA.

Coming back to the Tigrayan songs, what is not much known to non-Tigrayans is that the songs have a magical power of tranquilizing you in time of pain, energize you during battle, and exhilarate you in time of joy. That is the reason why, unlike the Amhara, Tegaru do not have special war songs or war dances of any significance. The master key to Tegaru moral is their song. Songs cannot be killed!! A final reminder to enemies of Tegaru is the songs do the magic only when sung by real Tegaru. Tigrigna songs used by the enemy to influence Tegaru to its side lose their potency and become like crying with a drum. Those children who are singing in the Umm Rakouba camps are the future generation of Tegaru who are aware of who sent them there. They are singing to tell their enemy that they will never be broken and will return home in triumph however much it takes. And nothing will ever be the same!