Small men, they say, talk personalities, mediocre men talk ideas but great men talk principles. And recently—yesterday to be exact—the intellectually diminutive and morally corrupted Abiy Ahmed vilified and belittled General Tsadkan Gebretinsae when party members in the hall engaged in impress-Abiy-contest as they pretended to take notes while Abiy Ahmed rumbled not worthy of repeating here.
On the other hand, General Tsadkan, a devout student of Emperor Marcus Aurelius—the Stoic and author of “Meditations” teaches us about heroism when he says, heroism is respecting your elders, caring for others and offering a shoulder to those who are unable and in a dire need of help. He goes on to articulate that, we shouldn’t be afraid of pain, death or lose. The only thing we have to fear is losing our virtues and moral principles or values. That is precisely the difference between Tsadkan the giant and Abiy Ahmed the nobody—literally and figuratively.
In the “Funeral Oration”, the Athenian Statesman and General—Pericles eulogized the fallen soldiers at Marathon when he said, “….As for success or failure, they left that in the doubtful hands of hope, and when the reality of battle was before their eyes, they put their trust in their own selves and in a small moment of time, the climax of their lives, a culmination of glory, not of fear, would be swept away from us. And so they would be accorded praises that never grow old, the most splendid of sepulchers—not the sepulcher in which their bodies are laid, where their glory remains eternal in men’s minds, always there on the right occasion to stir others to speech or to action….”
Pericles’ timeless speech captures the essence of a soldier—a soldier not only of courage but of principles, integrity and humility as well. And it was in light of that, the gem accentuates General Tsadkan and his army—TDF when he said, መሬት ልሒስና ተሲእና! And I would not dare translate it for not only it loses its true meaning but it would be doing a disservice to the General as well.
To be sure, it would not be fair to even contemplate much less to scribble the striking contrast between General Tsadkan and Abiy Ahmed for to the very least both belong to opposing leagues not only in military caliber but in an intellectual stature as well. Tsadkan, a product of his generation, left his promising prospect in school and headed to Tigray to fight for the people of Tigray against the biggest army in Africa that had lasted for seventeen long years with no hiatus whatsoever in between. In the final phase of the war, he led the TPLF army to the capital city. Later on, he played a major role in building a highly disciplined army that had become an envy to friends and foes alike to the extent that the army was highly sought for peace keeping mission by international agencies.
After he left the army, he became a very successful entrepreneur while still engaging in political discourses as the nation navigated through uncharted phases. And unexpectedly the ultimate test of character arrived. After he exhausted all peaceful means to the then rising tension between TPLF and Abiy’s regime, he clearly understood where the wind headed—he could’ve settled abroad leading a comfortable life but chose to fight for Tigray and the people of Tigray instead.
Lo and behold, he remained true when he was nearly defeated and remained humble when he totally crushed, a colossal army—Abiy’s army, Eritrean army, regional armies including Somali mercenaries in the company of Turkish and Emirate drones. And now, as he had done it close to two decades and half ago, he is building one of the strong armies in the region. This time in Tigray! As Pericles put it, “….And so they would be accorded praises that never grow old…where their glory remains eternal in men’s minds, always there to stir others to speech or to action…”
[…] Source: AigaNews […]