capacity to intervene and stop the
genocide, not only left the genociders
to continue their gruesome work, but
also launched a campaign negating
the obvious in order to avoid any
human or material cost that would
have occurred in an intervention.
The excuses half-heartedly
pronounced by the certain leaders
change nothing about the main
lesson of this history; as long as the
notion of human family is not deep
rooted; as long as clear and effective
mechanism of prevention and
fighting against genocide are put in
place, the ‘never again’ will only
remain just a slogan, and the excuses
of those who ought to have
intervened will always come too late.		 Today...15
years later, why
commemorate
genocide?
Aperiod of 15 years, an
eternity, will say the victims
for whom nothing will ever
be the same. For many, ten years of
atrocious memories, physical and
moral traumatism, indelible
aftermath, and grief, are in fact
endless.
15 years: ‘a very short time’, will say
those who are engaged in picking up
the challenges of restoration, of life
after death. For them, the challenges

 

are so many and big, the task so heavy
and resources so limited that they
hardly notice time pass by.
Wherever one stands, the figure 15
challenges us to ask:
• Where are we since the end of the
horror?
• Which way have we traveled?
• What lessons have we learned?
• What hope do we give to the future
generations?
Such is the raison d’etre of the
choice and principal moments of the
15th Commemoration are devoted to
this particularity of Rwandan
genocide: It was planned openly and
publicly, it was organized and
executed in broad daylight; since
then, other massive exterminations
took place as if no lesson had ever
been drawn.
  We have the duty to assure future
generations in concrete terms that
never again shall genocide take place
in the history of humanity.
When all said and done, the
memory of genocide, the
commemoration of victims and, the
comprehension of its causes,
mechanism and consequences, are
indispensable for setting up concrete
and effective, preventive mechanisms.
Such are the motivations which
have pushed the Government of
Rwanda, through its Embassy in New
Delhi and the Rwandan Students
Association –Karnataka to organise
and commemorate the occasion in
Bangalore at Garden City College
and pledge
...Never Again.
(Source: Rwanda Embassy, NewDelhi)
 
  Lest We Forget:
Rwanda Marks
Genocide
15 years on, the Embassy of
Rwanda, New Delhi and
Rwanda Students Association
–Karnataka (RSA) chose Garden City
College for its unique diversity and
heritage as venue for the first ever
commemoration in India of the
genocide against the Tutsi minority in
India. It highlighted what has been
termed by many as the ‘bankruptcy of
humanity’ during the 1994 massacres
that took place in the East and
Central African Republic.
  While the national ceremony took
place in Nyanza, a hill in Kigali where
thousands of people were slaughtered
on April 11 after the Belgian UN
contingent that had been protecting
them pulled out, Rwandese in
Diaspora too got together to mark the
day in their adopted homes across the
globe.
Belgium had decided to pull its
troops out after 10 commandos from

the UN force were killed by forces
from Rwanda's regular army.
Across the world, there are those
who still live in denial and insist the
genocide never took place. “What can
we do to ensure that this never
happens again, in Rwanda or
anywhere else? The struggle against
trivialization and negationism is the

 

major theme for the commemoration
of the genocide," said Mr. Ngoga
Eugene Fixer, the First Counselor,
Embassy of Rwanda. “It is also a call
on the people of Rwanda to come
together and rebuild their nation," he
added.
The audience comprising students
from other countries including the

 
  host country India was taken through
a power point presentation that
highlighted the systematic killing and
the response of the international
community to the plight of Tutsi. The
audience was also shown the
documentary by General Romeo
Dallaire, the Commander of the UN
forces in Rwanda, Shake Hands with
the Devil.
The audience could not hide
emotions as the letter written by a girl
who survived the genocide survivor,
Alice Uwamahoro and recently
published in the New Times of
Rwanda was read.
As in other parts of the world
where the Rwandese Diaspora
pledged a hand in the rebuilding
process, the association also launched
the "one dollar campaign", which