Almost thirty two years ago when all hell broke loose and Rwanda was plunged into a historical nightmare in the genocide against Tutsi, the international community watched, arms akimbo, as we died in the thousands daily for an incredibly brutal hundred days. The only televised genocide in history.
Rwanda was written off and the genocide dismissed as a mere ethnic conflict. But for the Heroes we have just saluted and celebrated, we stand firm and tall today to the consternation of the world, but especially the architects and executioners of the genocide against Tutsi.
Gallant men and women who paid the ultimate price are the foundation of the new Rwanda. Most of them, if not all, had grown in terrible conditions in exile where they were denied simple human rights and relegated to statelessness. The human spirit has a breaking point, and these men and women we celebrate made it their business to reclaim their rights and humanity, and in so doing, ours as well.
Heroism does not come easy and not all of us are endowed with it. It is defined as courageous, prosocial action taken to protect or benefit others, often involving significant personal risk to one’s safety, reputation, or well-being.
Heroism that we celebrate now requires both physical and moral courage to act when others remain passive. It is considered both an innate, compassionate trait and a developable skill.
Our heroes, by their selfless and un-compromising constitution set the bar high for all of us Rwandans in whose hands the new Rwanda rests. They laid bare the rules of the game and demands of the many sacrifices ahead. The war was won but the struggle rages on because the monsters that shed our blood are poised by our borders, and I dare say in our midst, to finish off their criminal and inhuman agenda.
Today, even as we celebrate our heroes, the criminal murderous gang of INTERAHAMWE are planning and training in the DRC, half-heartedly aided by neighboring Burundi, to destabilize the gem we have built through sweat and blood. Our beautiful human quilt we have weaved over the last three decades has become the envy of the continent, and the world. We stand firm with resolve that we will honor the blood of our fallen country men and women who faced death with dignity. If we did otherwise history would not be kind to us.
Our decades of struggle and sacrifice are the foundation of the new Rwanda that knows no ethnicity and divisionism that were the call signs of past genocidal regimes. Today we march on not as individuals but a collective summoned to protect the Motherland at all costs.
As President Kagame never tires of reminding the nation, we are who we are and nobody can change us. Nobody created us, therefore nobody should have the gumption to try and re-mold us. We must not reach out for the bait. I trust we will not.
Heroes Day demands that we take stock of where we have come from and where we must go. After all, we are Rwandans. Our heroes laid down their lives so that we have a firm foundation to rise to the occasion, un-afraid of the challenges and the price attached to this undertaking.
The report card is in. We have selfless visionary leadership, strong institutions, and our moral compass is calibrated routinely. Much has been accomplished, but much more needs to be done, and will be done. We have never shied away from the battle cry. We did not in 1994, and now is not the time to be weak kneed. With this resolve, focus and determination, our Heroes can rest in peace.
Well written. Willis. It is important to remember true historical facts.