IN 1994, the world stood by and watched as one of the worst genocides in modern times unfolded in Rwanda. In a span of 100 days, an estimated 800,000 people — largely belonging to the Tutsi ethnic minority — were slaughtered in cold blood. The killings were sparked after a plane carrying Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana and his Belgian bodyguards was shot down. This week, old wounds were reopened when French judges dropped an inquiry into the missile attack. Several people close to current President Paul Kagame (who was the leader of a Tutsi rebel group at the time) were charged in the inquiry. On the other hand, the Rwandan government has placed blame on France for collusion in the genocide by supporting the Hutu regime and training its militia, in its scramble for power in post-independence Africa. Relations between the two nations have suffered over the past 24 years for the handling of the probe.

The world must remember what preceded — and, in fact, allowed — such mass-scale killings to take place, where neighbours, friends and family members turned against one another overnight. As a result of the malicious divide-and-rule policies of former colonial powers, extensive campaigns that dehumanised the ethnic minority, perceived to be unfairly privileged by the powerful, were carried out. Wide-scale propaganda was distributed, which created the perception of Tutsis being an internal and external threat. Throughout the world, much of the current political landscape is made up of populist leaders who have risen to power by vocalising or creating fear and paranoia around ethnic or religious minority groups, who are then viewed with great suspicion or blamed for the all ills the majority faces. Rwanda has rebuilt itself over the years, enjoying communal harmony through efforts at reconciliation. It is a case study in how it is necessary to forgive in order to move on from great violence and suffering, but it is disastrous to forget what led to it.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2018