Rwanda’s High Commissioner to India, Jacqueline Mukangira, has reflected on the international community’s failure to act as the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi started.Mukangira warned against the denial of the genocide against the Tutsi and deniers’ tendency to develop new strategies for the bad cause, as she asked governments to arrest and prosecute identified and confirmed genocide fugitives residing in their countries.ALSO READ: Hate Radio: Theatre play on RTLM’s role in 1994 Genocide comes to KigaliShe was speaking in an event hosted in New Dehli, India on Friday April 7 to commemorate the Genocide against the Tutsi. The event was attended by Rwandans living in India, friends of Rwanda, diplomats, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, academia, the business community, civil society organisations, and others.“After the world had said ‘Never Again’ should a genocide happen after the Holocaust, the world watched without much concern the bloody unfolding of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda,” she noted.ALSO READ: PHOTOS: Newcastle City Council honours victims of 1994 Genocide against the TutsiShe commended the bravery of soldiers of the then Rwandese Patriotic Army which was led by President Paul Kagame who fought and stopped the Genocide.The session included an exhibition which attracted around 100 students and teachers from New Delhi schools. Through various artworks, the students made presentation on the atrocities of the Genocide and conveyed messages related to the promotion of positive coexistence, love and peace over any types of discrimination, hatred, and conflicts.Cynthia McCaffrey, UNICEF's Representative to India, delivered the message of the Secretary General of the United Nations on the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda.“We also gather to renew our promise as the international community to owe future generations that we will never forget and we will do everything we can to ensure that no people anywhere in the world have to experience the same horrors again,” she said.Meenakashi Lekhi, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, who graced the occasion as chief guest, expressed her deep empathy for the pain of genocide survivors and praised the resilience of the people of Rwanda.I share your pain because I relate it to myself,” she said.Lekhi commended the existing bilateral relations between Rwanda and India which have been strengthened by President Kagame's various visits to India and Prime Minister Modi's visit to Rwanda.India has always been with Rwanda, sharing its pain, rebuilding, she added.Lekhi also noted that in 1993, India warned the UN that there was a threat of a genocide in Rwanda if any countermeasures were not taken by the international community.
