The month of August has been regarded as a month of festive celebration and cultural enrichment for quiet sometime in the history of Eritrea and Eritreans. Prior to independence, the festival was a necessary gathering for Eritreans exiled in various corners of the world as an opportunity to meet and show their love and commitment to their nation about-to-be-revealed. The essence of festival had multiple goals of cultural renaissance and fund raisings for the EPLF in order to accelerate its mission of liberating the nation and its people from a chain of colonial annexation.

However, the post-independence festival started changing its festive flavor and now completely lost its marvel of novelty.  Some of us, who are mentally liberated, have already recognized the illusive festival games that the PFDJ is playing against its own people and voiced our concerns against the regime and the festival mania. We have and are advising people to be aware of the evil motives behind embassy sponsored meetings and party organized festivals. We have been using the festival season as a platform of opportunity to knockout self-denial and cooperation with the ultimate beneficiary, the PFDJ, and snapped the moment to trigger awareness and declare the gruesome brutality that the Eritrean government is committing against humanity. This is one of the tools that a non-violent struggle would enforce to bring everlasting change in Eritrea. 

On the other hand, some of us are unequivocally aware of the ugly choice that we are making to attend the festival extravaganza and irresponsibly sponsor the regime to cycle its torturous and abusive actions against the people and the land that we all belong to. This is a very fatal choice which has a profound consequence against democracy and peoples’ right. Paradoxically, those sponsors and/or their immediate family are victims of their own financial support. For example, it is very puzzling to see the same person who is dancing and chanting in the PFDJ festivals in a mission to smuggle out his/her family members from the hands of the PFDJ. Why do two things that are directly against each other? Is this a gauge of civility or confusion? Wouldn’t it be very crazy to see the same soccer player wearing the jersey of one team to associate himself with the players of the opposing team in a game? The same would be a drama when a client hires a lawyer who would gather evidence against him and testify against the client. So, how long are we going to be deceiving ourselves? How long are we going to choose to sustain lawlessness and injustice?       

Credible sources indicate that the PFDJ earns millions of dollars by organizing festivals and selling artifacts in the compounds of the diaspora festivals. This financial boost is known to be helping the government to strengthen its policy of threat, harassment, interrogation, imprisonment, slavery, disappearance and killings. As all of us are obliged to know, the government views festivals as fund raising events to accomplish its inhumane motives and shatter every hope of human rights and democracy in the present Eritrea. The PFDJ considers August as a month of financial security and recruitment of compassionate associates who could help to block the flaring up Eritrean struggles for human rights and democracy across the world. It is such a disgraced move by the PFDJ or anyone who chooses to obey and contribute to the wickedness of the system in power.  

Unfortunately, the festival season is a time where many of us turn against our own people more aggressively. Despite our intentions, it is a time where we contradict ourselves and paradoxically credit our abuser and expose our very own people to anarchy.            

In conclusion, I would like to use the season as an opportunity to extend my call to the associates of the government to cease their detrimental actions and join hands with the patriots who are in the call of duty to defend their people from endless slavery and chaotic rule. 

Let’s all have a season of reconciliation with ourselves and a season of compensation for the time lost in self-deception!