As we end the period when we remember our sisters and brothers who inhumanly perished because of what they we, all of us as Rwandans, must ask ourselves this question. “What we can do to combat and prevent prejudice, discrimination and violence in Rwandan society today and forever”? It is essential that we remember the 1994 Tutsi Genocide because of all the innocent lives that were lost because of ignorance and bad leadership. I think there are three main reasons why we must remember the Tutsi Genocide in Rwanda. First of all, we have to learn from the past so we will not make the same mistakes again. It is important to keep in mind what can happen in a dictatorship or what can be the result of discrimination of any sort. The lesson to us all, and that is of paramount importance, is to protect democracy and fight discrimination of any kind. Secondly, we have to remember the dead because they deserve it and it’s an element of all cultures to remember them. I feel that forgetting the victims would be like killing the memory of them. This would be like killing them a second time. Lastly, if we forget Tutsi genocide, the message to all who want to commit genocide is that they can get away with it. Hitler once asked, “who remembers the Armenians today”? He was referring to the genocide of Armenians by the Turks during World War I. He thought Germany could get away with the Holocaust like Turkey did with the Armenian genocide that the world would not care anyway. If we forget our sisters and brothers, we shall have lived in vain ourselves.R.I.P The author is Umutara Polytechnic University vice Rector in charge of Academics.
