Bariisaa Newspaper in the Oromo Struggle for National Identity Rights under the Darg

Abstract

This study examined how Bariisaa, an Afaan Oromo newspaper, functioned as the main forum for issues of social justice, including linguistic rights, economic and cultural values as well as political representation between 1975 and 1991. Extensive debates were exchanged among government representatives’ attempts to keep the orthography of Afaan Oromo to Geez script and its drawbacks to represent Oromo sounds. However, these important historical episodes have been overlooked by Oromo studies. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the opinions and ideas expressed in this newspaper on the search for the best orthography to represent Afaan Oromo sounds, foster a sense of pride in Oromo identity, and raise Oromo national consciousness. The study employed a qualitative research design and historical research approach drawing evidence from oral interviews, published poems, letters, articles and other secondary sources about Bariisaa. The result of the study shows that Bariisaa newspaper published a number of arguments by wrapping them in Marxist-Leninist concepts. It served the Oromo elites to exchange ideas about how to deal with the disrespect for the Oromo national identity and the sabotage made to paralyze Bariisaa. Bariisaa was instrumental in establishing a network among the Oromo and in demonstrating the interdependence between Afaan Oromo and Oromo identity. The study also indicates that its contents were strictly censored and systematic efforts were made to limit the number of copies and centres of distributions. The newspaper also served as important sources of information for the contemporary radio broadcasts in Afaan Oromo.