BANGALORE: Over 350 African students, sporting T-shirts with the Rwanda flag and holding banners shunning the genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda conducted a peace march in the city on Sunday. Starting from the Gandhi Statue on Race Course Road, the students and officials from the Consul for the Republic of Rwanda in Bangalore, along with 100 Indian and Sri Lankan students came together on the 18th Commemoration of the genocide against Tutsi.
The peace march, ‘Walk2Remember’ had students with posters reading ‘Genocide never again’ and they marched till the Jnana Jyothi Auditorium, Bangalore University. “The 1994 Genocide against Tutsi claimed over a million lives over 100 days. It left the whole country in tatters, but the country has made enormous progress. The theme for this year’s commemoration is to learn from our history to shape a bright future,” said H E Williams Nkurunziza, High Commissioner for the Republic of Rwanda.
Meanwhile, the audience also observed a minute’s silence for the victims of the genocide at 11 am, followed by a video message by the United Nations Secretary-General, H E Ban Ki-moon. “Students are the future of the country and they need to safeguard our country. The 1994 genocide was a sad event in the history of the world, but students and everyone from all countries should ensure that something like this never happens again. It is important to remember the victims and work towards a better future,” said Dr N Prabhu Dev, Vice Chancellor of Bangalore University.
The audience was moved to tears on watching video testimonies by survivors of the Genocide in a documentary titled ‘Dreams of the Future’. The same was showcased simultaneously in Punjab and Chidambaram.