(ThyBlackMan.com) INTRODUCTION.
Genocide is a thought crime and there is nothing more painful to the victims than the negation of the events that devastated them. Over the past years, critics of the Rwandan Government together with their western sponsors have gone on a mission to ridicule the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi by asserting that the said tragedy was a “political guile” orchestrated by the RPF Government to absorb themselves from another liabilities even where verified credible investigations by the UN and other independent houses confirming the story as known by the whole world are in the public domain and remain undisputed until recently.
It is imperative on all Rwandans to fight these political opportunists by teaching the new generation the true story and preparing them for such distorted views and the motives behind them so that once conflicted, they will be able to make rational decisions and defend their own country from an informed position.
What has suddenly changed?
Could the hunger for power be so bad that some unworthy Rwandan politicians in exile may go to the extent of manipulating crucia
l facts just in order for them to gain some sort of political mileage?
How can such distorted selfish souls become Leaders “En 1994, le Rwanda a connu un génocide qui a emporté plus d’un million de vies humaines.
Celui-ci fut le produit de l’idéologie génocidaire qui s’est manifestée en amont comme en aval des massacres.
Malgré les efforts consentis par l’Etat rwandais pour consolider l’unité nationale, l’idéologie du génocide persiste malheureusement au sein de la société.”
As expected, there will always be certain people within any given society who will never conform to the status quo for no apparent reason. Although this is somewhat normal, it must not be tolerated for the common good.
The same has been the case with “Genocidaires” who have refused to repent for their sins despite various assurances where their rights are concerned should they ask for forgiveness to the victims of their heinous crimes against humanity and move on. Others have chosen to deny existing factual events or negate the story that is undisputed for political reasons or mere extremism-the largest part comprises of Rwandans living in exile.
In a country such as Rwanda, the idea of another Genocide against the Tutsi is polarizing in all aspects due to various conflicting ideologies and opinions on the critical subject.
Survivors live with perpetrators and have forgiven the latter out of national unity-mind you they forgive but do not forget as normal human beings would.
Psychologically, they are always afraid that another similar event might occur should they drop their guard and reminding the perpetrators serve as a healing process and also help the said perpetrators find ample time within their hearts to reflect on the effects of taking another innocent person’s life unjustifiably.
AN ELDERLY GENERATION TO SERVE AS AN EXEMPLARY GROUP OF FIRST HAND TEACHERS.
In any conflict, young people tend to form the neutral party. They merely do as they are told and in most instances-they do not believe in some of the deeds they end up doing. It is the said naivety that demands of the elderly class a higher sense of responsibility where national matters are concerned for with age comes experience and as such-a higher standard where morality is concerned.
Given that the mistakes of the past were as a result of poor judgment, now more than ever, a higher degree of thinking and critical analysis must be inculcated in the minds Rwandan youths from an elementary age to insure that we do not fall in another abyss but how could this be achieved?
Below are a few suggestions;
A. Civic Duty-a home grown ideology.
Articles 16 and 46 of the Rwandan Constitution call all Rwandans to maintain good relations with each other by promoting ideologies that are helpful to the Rwandan people and proscribes any form of discrimination in any form whatsoever. Even more so-Articles 47 and 48 impose a civic duty on all Rwandans by virtue of their nationality to seek to assist the Government of the day in implementing all policies-especially those of national interest like combatting genocide ideology as provided for under Article 10 of the Rwandan Constitution-the bedrock of the Rwandan State by implication.
Simply put-every Rwandan parent must teach his/her children the dangers of extremism, ethnic divisions, tribalism and biased partisan politics and also explain to them why it is crucial for all Rwandans to live as one.
Our respective homes must be breeding grounds for training responsible Rwandan citizens to build the country.
B. Schools: “The need of a flexible approach to learning.”
Rwandans are known to be timid and rigid. They fear telling the truth as it is.They would rather beat about the bush and speak in proverbs even where the problem at hand is a straightforward one. Unlike our Leader Paul Kagame who calls a spade a spade, we fear being misunderstood and hence refrain from doing the right thing with all the bravery.
The same applies to the Rwandan Schools which are still managed/run by a conservative generation whose reservation on sensitive issues such as the Tutsi Genocide could be insidious to the peace and stability the country has enjoyed over the years-a feat that came from sacrifice and ultimate dedication.
They mean well but are too afraid to tell the new generation what really transpired as it were. In some areas, there has been some considerable progress (especially in major towns) but in remote areas, this culture has not developed to the extent that all the right information could be disseminated to the targeted group. Other people are conflicted with radicalism and choose not to fully support the Government’s policies by minimizing critical facts. Influenced by biased opinions from unregistered Rwandan opposition parties in exile, they take a light approach to sensitive matters such as the Tutsi Genocide-making it difficult for the Government to eradicate extremism within the Rwandan society. Although a small fraction of the population, these ill-informed people must be retaught on how to adapt to the changing times in order for them to be useful to their families and the state as a whole.
Evil is just evil and must be eradicated without fear nor favor.
Furthermore, it is to be noted that the aforesaid is just an observation from afar and a call for more work to be done but generally, the country seems to be on the right pace but it is just that ordinary “Abaturage” must be constantly be reminded that they have a duty to themselves and their country as well for (we) who grew up in exile know how destructive poorly-oriented youths can be. Knowledge is power and the lack thereof could lead to chaos and as Future Leaders-the youths must be vested with all the right tools from a tender age.
Policies do not operate from a vacuum but within a system and as such every Rwandan citizen is a stakeholder in ensuring that the future generation does not make the same mistakes as their predecessors.
It is called patriotism, not “RPF Propaganda” as claimed by some biased critics. The intention of some groups is merely to divide and destroy other people’s achievements even if it will serve them no purpose and they know too well that those whom they despise so much mean well and are at the service of the general population as legitimately mandated-making them the rightful representatives of the people.
These people include the members and Leaders of the FDLR, RNC, DIRN and other disgraced Rwandan Politicians living in exile-to them, Another Genocide in Rwanda means “political gain” on their part but the Rwandan people are not stupid-they know how far they have come to fall for subjective politics once again.
However, those politicians living in exile who are tired of living in exile are most welcome home. Rwanda is a forgiving nation and should they choose to adhere to Rwandan Legislation, they will be well taken care of. It is never too late to do the right thing.
CONCLUSION.
They say;
“Even a broken clock gets to be right twice a day” and leadership is said to be;
“The capacity to translate a vision into reality”.
Rwandans experienced one of the worst humanitarian crises over two (2) decades ago but they rose above the said tragedy. Many expected Rwandans to fail but through unity-they overcame. We are a broken nation with a dreadful past. Nevertheless, only (we) know the right formula that got us on our two feet.
The “NdiumunyaRwanda” philosophy has become a reality and every Rwandan has come to appreciate its fruits-no Rwandan is to ever be discriminated against based on their physiognomy and ethnic affiliation for we are all Rwandans are descendants of one man “Father Rwanda”.
The idea that another Genocide against the Tutsi is possible is wishful thinking on the part of extremists. The Rwanda they knew has changed and no one is dumb enough to sacrifice the strides the country has made merely because they possess some trivial differences with their neighbor based on any ground.
Rwandans now know better and they can no longer be manipulated by greedy/selfish politicians for in the end-they are the ones to suffer harsh consequences and be victims as those politicians flee to Europe and other developed countries should push comes to shove(see the 1994 Tutsi Genocide where the ones that suffered for nothing were common men “Abaturage”).
CITATIONS.
STAUB E., (1992), Roots of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other group.
RWANDA – “IDEOLOGIE DU GENOCIDE ET STRATEGIES DE SON ERADICATION” (2006) PAR Dr. Vincent BIRUTA.
Staff Writer; Lionel Nishimwe
We are an ‘ ADVOCACY AGENCY’ that specialises in DISPUTE SETTLEMENT in liaison with relevant ‘LEGAL ADVOCATES’. Can visit our official “fanpage” over at Facebook; Lionel Nishimwe & Ngandu Consultancy.
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