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From Nharnet Archives

(Today, 15th of March 2016 is the 52nd anniversary of the Battle of Togoruba. For those who have not read the article below when it was published 11 years ago, we are posting it also at this 52nd commemoration of Togoruba. By the way, the other historic and decisive Battle of Afabet of 1988 was also fought in the month of March - and maybe Eritrea can one day combine the two and celebrate the heroisms of ELA and EPLA in one day!! Happy 52nd Anniversary of Togoruba, and good reading).

Eritrea’s combined forces of liberation constituted a formidable army that scored great achievements and paid dearly for the independence of the country and the liberation of  its people. The memorable battles fought at the historic Togoruba, at Tessenei, in Agordat, Keren, Nacfa, Massawa, Dekemhare and Mereb, to mention only a few, do tell the great story of our liberation struggle days. And it was to honour the great deeds of the liberation fighters that the Revolutionary Council of the ELF designated the Battle of Togoruba of 15 March 1964 as an event annually marked under the name of Liberation Army Day.

Togoruba is situated near Adal in western Eritrea where the first shots of the liberation struggle were fired three years before the battle at Togoruba.  At Togoruba, the pioneer fighters of the liberation army confronted for the first time a relatively well equipped Ethiopian regular army and defeated it. The regular occupation army, that was deployed after the police and special forces failed to crush the liberation struggle, suffered 87 killed against 17 martyrs on the Eritrean side. Units of the Eritrean Liberation Army (ELA) were poorly equipped. Yet, they  possessed a just cause and unflinching  commitment to it.

Units of Eritrea’s liberation army between 1961 and 1991 were made up of fighters absolutely committed to the cause and the well-being of their people. Selflessness characterized the Revolution and its members. Self-sacrifice prevailed in every aspect of life in the liberation struggle. That high spirit of camaraderie and love of the other more than oneself was the secret of its final victory.  But, today, all those great qualities have become  things of the past about which we may, occasionally,  hear a talk on the Radio/TV and read in the media. Selfishness has overcome the great altruistic qualities of the pre-1991 period. The  interest of the entire people has been  replaced by unbridled   individualism and insatiable personal interests. All the promises to the people were forgotten. Defending the truth and promoting justice and equality were thus buried deep in the ground when the new motto has become: “why should I care about others”.  This new situation  suited  the one-man dictatorship that could easily impose itself  through a divide and rule mechanism and the control of selfish individuals through material benefits.

Yet, the day will come when those who betrayed the cause of the martyrs of the ELA and the EPLA will have to answer for their wrongdoings and  crimes against their own people. They will not be able to feign ignorance of all what has been going on in front of their eyes. They will have to answer to the gross mistakes that caused endless suffering, death and destruction in our land and people like:

• The hardship and impoverishment that has befallen the entire people
• The violation of human, civil and political rights and the denial of the rule of law
• The ongoing rape, and displacement of families
• The exile and death on the desert and the high seas of our youth forced to flee the situation created at home
• The corruption that has turned the conscripted youth into a slave-labour working for the benefit of the generals and seniour army officers
• The total collapse of the economic and social system that has led to a dangerously high  level of malnutrition and starvation.

It is incomprehensible to see some veteran fighters of the liberation struggle continuing to watch idly by the sad state of affairs in Eritrea today. It is difficult to explain how on earth they fail to react to the death of a cause for which they sacrificed so much.

At this 41^st anniversary of the Battle of Togoruba, which is known as Eritrean Liberation Army Day, we call on the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF) to stop serving the wrong force and instead support and promote the aspirations of our people for peace, justice, equality and prosperity. We also find it opportune moment to say this : If the EDF fails to join hands on time with the democratic forces of the opposition and help remove the dictatorship, Eritrea will be exposed to grave dangers.

The wrong policies and actions of the dictatorial regime in Asmara has caused Eritrea’s isolation from our neighbourhoods and the world at large.  All Eritrean patriots within and outside the regime  are called upon now to coordinate their actions in order to remove the evil regime and avert all possible dangers to our hard won nationhood.

We are aware that many compatriots within the EDF and other organs of the regime, who are opposed to the policies and deeds of the one-man dictatorship, are putting some  struggle against PFDJ. However, much more is expected of them today. The great spirit of selflessness and love of the people that prevailed in the liberation struggle days must revisit the hearts of many Eritreans who are not contributing enough to deliver the promises of our Revolution to the still suffering people. Altruism and the best service to one’s people was  one of the great values cultivated in our years of struggle and we need to keep it up until the great promises to the people are fulfilled..

All Eritreans, and in particular the members of the EDF, are called upon today to heed to the call of their brothers and sisters in the opposition to help in removing the destructive regime and in its place establish democratic governance in which Eritreans live in peace, security, social justice, equality and prosperity. 

The 41^st anniversary of the Battle of Togoruba is an excellent occasion to renew our resolve to succeed by once again committing ourselves to repeat the heroic deeds that led to our final victory at the end of the end liberation struggle.

Glory and eternal memory to our martyrs!