Histoire du vicariat

VII.2 The Origin of the Hutu-Tutsi Conflict

As we’ve just seen, it is foreign writers and administrators of the Tutelage who first imposed these divisions on the Rwandan population. In their so-called indirect rule, they initially used the Tutsi against the Hutu; then they changed the camp and used the Hutu against the Tutsi. The Hutu, who were consequently given power, continued to abuse it in the sense of the colonizer. Unfortunately, the colonial cheating met the tacit agreement of the leaders of the first two Republics. Knowing that the Hutu are the majority, the leaders of Parmehutu-MRND converted this numerical majority into political majority. This cheating ensured to them a never-ceasing victory.

Looking for psychological motivations, one can say that the attitude of colonizers is sheer opportunism which utilized alternatively the two groups of Rwandans in its egoistic interest and to the detriment of the two groups and even against the country as a whole. As for the Hutu leaders, their attitude can be explained, less by undergone social injustices, than by the complex of inferiority towards the Tutsi that had been wrongfully inculcated into them all along the colonial period. Hutu leaders, instead of taking revenge on the colonizers, they took revenge on the poor Tutsi. Indeed, at the time of monarchy, power was shared between all the social groups of the country. We know for example, the Twa Chief named Rujindiri, the Hutu Chief named Bisangwa son of Rugombituri who was the Army Commander of the Ingangurarugo, the army of King Rwabugili. We know even a woman, Nyirakigwene wife of Nyantabana, who was a Chief of Province.
It took the 3rd Republic to rectify the situation. The latter returned to the pre-colonial situation, of national unity and fraternity among Rwandans. This assertion is still at the level of wishes; remaining is to put it into practice totally and definitively. This will take time.
VII.3 The present state of the Hutu-Tutsi conflict

Presently, is the conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi still at the point where it was during the genocide? Let it be recalled that at that time, the fact of being a Tutsi was regarded as an offence worthy of capital punishment. In fact, the genocidaires of MRND-CDR tried their best to massacre any tutsi individual they could see in their killing ground. This, in fact, is the definition of the genocide against the Tutsi. Individuals of this category, who managed to escape this extermination, survived despite the intention of the genocidaires and constitute a failure to them. Some of them continue to nourish the hope to complete their “work”.

As for knowing if we are still at that stage today, it would be allowed if one was to answer in the negative. All the efforts of the Government of national unity already produced an effect. The current power has the necessary force to discourage any genocidal inclination. It may be allowed to think that today even the old genocidaires and their accomplices had sufficiently discouraging lessons to learn against any recidivist action. As for the opposition, the conflict, the competition, between these two groups of Rwandan as a whole, the problem persists. It is normal, the country comes from a long way. Considerable progress is notable. In formal and official relations, all that refers to the social trilogy is prohibited. The identity card does no longer mention the social identity of its bearer. All censuses, surveys, and publications, in short all the public language avoids any ethnicisation of the population.
Is there any way of measuring the mental evolution of Rwandans on this subject? All we can imagine is that evolutions are surely taking place. Resistances also appear here and there through some actions, attitudes and even in some political parties. For example, very recently there was an individual who departed from Europe and landed in Kigali and quickly asked: “I see the Memorial of the Tutsi, but, where is that of the Hutu”? Very recently also, we heard of a Report emanating from the UN, accusing the Rwandan Army to have perpetrated a genocide in Congo against the Hutu refugees. This allegation contains, inter alia, the assertion of a double genocide: the one against the Tutsi perpetrated by the Hutu and another against the Hutu by the Tutsi! Very recently also, at the time of the visit of the President of the Republic in Belgium, an enormous demonstration of the Hutu welcomed him in Brussels. This crowd stressed the slogans accusing the President of racism against the Hutu. We cannot afford not to mention the possibilities of international communication offered by Internet as a tool. This means of communication is at the disposal of every one: whether he is normal or foolish, without fear of harmful consequences. To have a complete information on our subject, suffice it to open some Internet websites. All is there about our subject: everything good, true, forgery, and even malicious! On December 20 and 21, 2010, a National Dialogue was held in Kigali at the same time as an international meeting of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide. All these meetings prove that the problem of national unity is still topical. Progress is being made, but it is progress towards national unity.
VII.4 Who still benefits from the perceived division between Rwandans ?

In this final consideration, let us dwell on two aspects : the « still » in the above sentence, and “who benefits from it”

VII. 4.1 What does this adverb “still” mean?

Beneficiaries of this conflict changed in the course of time. At the beginning, as earlier discussed, it is foreigners who created the conditions of this conflict. All started with the theory of inequality of races. We heard it from of Speke. We also heard it from writers of the colonial period. This theory was applied to the Rwandan population while administrative power was being allocated and the privilege was given first to the Tutsi and then to the Hutu. The interest of colonizers of this time is evident: using the most useful Rwandan for the administration of the country. Today, what is happening? Political colonization has ended. But colonial masters have not yet given up all the advantages they enjoyed from their old colonies. One can thus say that the colonizer still wants to benefit from the richness of his old colony. Since our independence, obviously, the colonizer does not have any more all his old grip on our country. He however continues to manipulate all the opponents against the current Regime.

Among Rwandans, rivalry between the Hutu and the Tutsi evolved. At the beginning, it was the Hutu who were crushed by the colonial Administration. Thereafter, it was the Tutsi who were crushed by the colonizer and the two first Republics. Everyone thus sees who benefited from these successive regimes. Currently, opposition between the Hutu and the Tutsi has officially been declared null and void. Is there any Rwandan who still counts on this opposition? Certainly. We have already mentioned the results of recent surveys on the issue. There are, approximately between 30 and 35% of Rwandans who still count on the maintenance of this opposition. Only dead fish flow with the stream!


VII. 4.2 Who has the true interest in this conflict?
The answer to this question must be placed beyond egoistic and limited points of view. Unity, cohabitation, harmony between inhabitants of the same country, relate to their fundamental rights as human beings, with equal rights on the resources of their nation and in respect of the ultimate vocation of each human person. It is thus visible that no interest, worthy of this name, can create incompatibility between citizens of the same nation. Let us closely examine what happened in the case of Rwanda. We shall first of all see what concerns the colonizers. Then we shall see what regards the Hutu, and finally the Tutsi.
VII.4.2.1 What true interest the colonizer has got in the conflict between Rwandans?
If, he had not sowed discord between us, the colonized, that would not have prevented the colonizer from managing us as he wished. To have even dropped the Tutsi who claimed the independence of the country and replaced them with the Hutu who did not claim it, that did not prevent the independence from arriving in its time. Now we can affirm without fear of being mislead that this discord sowed between Rwandans did not bring to the colonizers any true advantage. Let us now see the case of the Hutu.
VII.4.2.2 What true interest the Hutu has got in the conflict between Rwandans?
To know the profit that the Hutu find in the conflict between them and the Tutsi is really a headache. Indeed, until now, some unquestionably still hold to it in spite of the annoying consequences that they saw. Let us enter slowly into the work. Concerning the totality of the Hutu of Rwanda, their misfortunes came during two periods: initially as a human group then as a genocidal group. Let us recall what was said on these two points. The literature written on the Rwandan population claimed that this country is inhabited by 3 races: the Hutu, the Tutsi, and the Twa. The Hutu ‘race’ was given abusive and possibly injurious traits. Let us refresh our memory by recalling some of the quotations. The Hutu is: “a Very primitive Race, without culture, his intelligence is still in sleep” (Matthieu); “Less tempting than the Tutsi, more timid, less polite” (Pages); “with a flat nose, and a reduced facial angle” (Arnoux); “Race of serf, coarse and irregular” (Delvaux); “Lazy, choleric, like a child” (Hiberty); “Height of the nose 52,41 mm, maximum length of the head 196,08 mm, fatalist” (Hiernoux); “A narrow spirit, closed to innovations, ripe for control, born to be dominated, naive, peasant” (Sandrart); “Influenceable, opportunist, reacting to external stimuli by feeling rather than reason. He does not have a need for individual independence” (Hausner); “Race of negroes, who are hardly trimmed monkeys” (Malinowski).
What can we say about this description? After such a psychological indoctrination which lasted almost 100 years, the Hutu ended up accepting this description and taking it as their true nature. By so doing, they underwent a profound humiliation and a mortal complex of inferiority vis-à-vis the Tutsi. Unfortunately, instead of imputing the fault to the colonizers who had created this caricature, they imputed it to the Tutsi. They thus accepted again to be manipulated by the colonizer by making of the Tutsi the scapegoat of the colonizer’s fault. The unjust revenge of the Hutu on innocent Tutsi created into them a new misfortune. Indeed, after the damages of the racist policy of Parmehutu and MRND political parties and their offspring, the Coalition for the Defense of the Republic (CDR), the entire Hutu group was taken as genocide perpetrators. It goes without saying that any Hutu individual was not involved in the genocide. Besides, many Hutu were killed during the genocide, which, in theory, targeted the Tutsi. Nevertheless, Hutu are considered, in the general opinion, as genocide perpetrators. That is the new misfortune ascribed to Hutus whereas the actors of this crime are members of these above-mentioned political parties. Worse still, when the genocidaire Government was defeated, it took as hostages as many Hutu as possible and carried them to Congo. Many thousands of these people lost their lives in this foreign land.

Those who returned to Rwanda, remained ashamed and humiliated by it. In the final analysis, the revenge of the Hutu on the Tutsi turned against its authors. Indeed, they wanted to monopolize power without sharing it, but they lost everything. Currently, they are obliged to compose the citizenry that includes other groups in a Government of national unity. The Hutu genocidaires had the intention of slaying any Tutsi? Today, they are obliged to cohabitate with the survivors of this tragedy. An influential minister told his child one day: “My son, there will be one day on which someone will ask you: “What were the Tutsi like”! You will answer him: “go and see their photos in the museums”. What a prophecy! Apparently, it is not necessary to go to the museums to discover this figure!

VII.4.2.3 What true interest the Tutsi has got in the conflict between Rwandans?
This question is trifling. The conflict which engulfed more than a million of Tutsi into the genocide, its qualification is obvious. Let us rather try to show its mechanism. Let us start by quoting what implied Tutsi in this conflict. The Tutsi is “Related to Abyssinians, with a Semitic face” (Arnoux); “Conceited, elegant, innate sense of command” (Sandrart); “are not Bantu. In private, they still speak their language of origin” (Maes); “They came from Abyssinia in the 15th or 16th century” (Roehl); “crafty” (Huberty). What can we deduct from this description? Just like that of the Hutu, this description is a caricature. It contains two aspects: one positive and another negative. The positive aspect is that it recognizes in the Tutsi some values: intelligence, elegance, sense of command. But these qualities actually intend to mean that the Tutsi is not black; that he has qualities of the Semites, therefore close to those of the Whites. As for the defects, they refer to the usual stereotypes: ruse, lie, arrogance. This biased presentation of the Tutsi is at the basis of the conflicts between him and the White, and even between him and the Hutu.
From this description, in the language of Hutu political Parties, we can find a similar vocabulary. The Tutsi are often described as: Inzoka (snakes), Inyenzi (cockroaches), foreigners, in short “bad by nature” as a well-known prelate could dare declare.
VII.4.3 The answer is a categorical no.
By what precedes, as we have largely explained it, our source of evil is first and foremost colonization: political colonization, but also mental colonization. If the colonized are to be pitied, the colonizers also have nothing to glorify themselves. Had they actually had some insights, they would have taken advantage of their action without necessarily harming the major interests of our population. The policy of divisionism did not really render any service to them.
A policy which led our country to the genocide against the Tutsi and massacres of the Hutu, to the continued wandering of thousands of Rwandans on all continents; this policy did not really bring any glory to both the Belgian Tutelage and their accomplices. Today, neither the Hutu, nor the Tutsi have any feeling of recognition for them. Besides, their will to colonize us eternally had its answer: our independence. The overall assessment of the colonial policy of divide et impera (divide and rule) is largely negative.

As regards the Hutu, the assessment of this long policy of divisionism can only be deeply regretted. Nobody gained anything from misfortunes that befell us. During colonization, the Hutu were insulted, crushed, marginalized. Since independence until the end of the 2nd Republic, they believed themselves to possess a never-ending monopoly on power. Unfortunately, the means used, being what they were, i.e. excessively violent, the end was catastrophic. It’s over all assessment actually causes a feeling of horror. The death of:

Four Catholic Bishops ;

Vincent Nsengiyumva Joseph Ruzindana

Thadée Nsengiyumva Phocas Nikwigize

two presidents of the Republic ;

Juvénal Habyarimana Grégoire Kayibanda

and the disappearance of thousands of people in wars and exiles. The glory of the 1959-Revolution of the Hutu has become a bitter memory today. In this regard, it is necessary to express great regret. When the young Hutu leaders, mostly graduates of catholic schools, were handed over power from the colonizer, they could have used it to correct injustices of colonization and put the country on the track of justice and democracy. This error did not stop there. Those leaders pushed the Hutu population to commit genocide against the Tutsi to the extent that, at the end of their heinous action, all the Hutu saw themselves generally qualified as ‘genocidaires’; which is a supreme insult. Gacaca courts spread out this great misfortune to the eyes of the world, while our current prisons attest it.
Let’s hope that, with the current efforts at reconciliation this shame will end up disappearing from the conscience of the Hutu. There is no need to ask the question of knowing if there is any Hutu who still truly benefits from the opposition between Rwandans! Even the cynical ones and the unrepentant regret at least not to have been able to finish up the work. They realize very well that, from now on, it would be harshly more difficult for them to repeat it.
How about the Tutsi? At the beginning of colonization, the theory of races of Speke, followed by the colonial administration and catholic Missions, qualified the Tutsi as a pure ‘Hamitic’ race. During the first half of colonization the colonial Administration invested power to members of noble families among the Tutsi. And since the period of independence in Africa until 1994, the Tutsi was crushed under the onslaught of colonio-Parmehutu-MRND machine. The crushing of the Tutsi was unparalleled: more than one million individuals were slain in three months. In this project to remove the Tutsi from the earth, the executioner had started with two monarchs:

Yuhi V Musinga Mutara III Rudahigwa

King Musinga was deposed and sent to perish in the Congo. He was later followed in this way to martyrdom by his son, King Rudahigwa, who died suddenly in Bujumbura in the hands of a colonial agent. If Divine Providence had not risen up the valiant liberators RPF-Inkotanyi, our question would not have any more sense today. For the survivors of this holocaust, opposition between Rwandans cannot have any advantage at all, since they are always the first victims.

CONCLUSION

At the end of this reflection, the question to know who still benefits from the discord between Rwandans must be posed to every citizen of this country. In other words, can the Rwandan nation, considering all its components, have any interest in the fight between her children? Of course not! This means that authors of the opposition between Rwandans do not believe in the national unity or want to break it. The theory of the three Rwandan ‘races’ implicitly contains this element. After realizing its falseness, authors of this theory gave up the race term and adopted that of ethnic group. Waste of time and effort, because this last word has a precise meaning that the Petit Larousse dictionary defines thus: “A human group which has a homogeneous family, economic and social structure and whose unity rests on a language and culture community”. This definition shows, indeed, that all Rwandans belong to only one ethnic group. Because, they all share the same language and culture. In fact, as everyone knows, the problem is political rather than ethnic. The colonizer invented the terms race and ethnic group to divide Rwandans in order to better manipulate them. Parmehutu- MRND parties and their members prefer the supposed division of Rwandans into three races or ethnic groups because the Hutu group has the numerical majority that they intentionally convert into political majority. This cheating ensures them an eternal victory in polls. Let us hope that current efforts will end up destroying in the comprehension of present-day Rwandans this political cheating of colonio-Parmehutu divisionism. Unity between Rwandans remains the only viable objective for the future.

To achieve this objective, it is necessary to resort at least to 5 factors:
1. Maintaining the removal of the ethnic identity card.

2. As a language, Kinyarwanda must be used as mean of communication, culture and unity among Rwandans.

3. Banishing any discrimination between Rwandans.

4. Urbanization of our communities to mix all categories of the Rwandan population.

5. Integration of Rwanda in the East African Community (EAC).

Gérard NYIRIMANZI

Translator


C. N^O48 : Mgr ALOYS BIGIRUMWAMI,

LE PREMIER EVEQUE CATHOLIQUE RWANDAIS :

UNE LUMIERE DANS LES TENEBRES POLITIQUES AU RWANDA




Un modèle réussi

Parmi les imanistes chrétiens.

INTRODUCTION

Le titre complet de ce propos est le suivant Mgr Aloys Bigirumwami fut une lumière pendant les ténèbres politiques de la coalition colonialo-parmehutu. Depuis longtemps, je suis habité par un désir d’écrire quelque chose sur Mgr Bigirumwami. En 2009, le Secrétariat de la Conférence des Evêques du Rwanda a publié une brochure sur Mgr Bigirumwami. La lecture de ce livret n’a pas comblé mon désir. En effet, ce que je vise essentiellement c’est de dire quelque chose sur la personne et l’œuvre de ce personnage en tant qu’il a été Lumière pendant les ténèbres politiques au Rwanda. Le premier contact que j’ai eu avec lui eut lieu le jour de son ordination épiscopale. A ce moment-là j’étais au Petit Séminaire de Kabyayi. Plus tard, je l’ai rencontré au Grand Séminaire de Nyakibanda où il venait souvent visiter ses séminaristes et échanger avec les Professeurs sur la situation du séminaire où avaient déjà commencé les divisions politiques. Lors que j’étais à la paroisse de Rulindo, il s’y arrêtait souvent pour nous saluer en allant ou en venant de Kigali. En 1972, je résidais dans la Communauté des Dominicains qui était à l’Université Nationale du Rwanda à Butare, fondée et dirigée par ces Pères. Lorsque les troubles dans les écoles, qui sévissaient dans le pays, arrivèrent à l’Université, j’ai dû fuir au Burundi. Pendant quelques années, j’ai résidé au Grand Séminaire de Bujumbura où j’ai donné des Cours. Dans la suite, avec le premier dominicain burundais, nous avons fondé la Communauté dominicaine de Bujumbura qui existe encore et prospère. En 1982, je suis allé à Kinshasa où je vivais dans la Communauté des Dominicains en enseignant à l’Université. Là aussi, Mgr Bigirumwami m’a trouvé lorsque, à l’invitation du Cardinal Malula, il est venu participer au colloque des Historiens africains de la région des Grands Lacs. A ce moment-là, il venait de prendre sa retraite comme évêque du Diocèse de Nyundo. Peu après, je l’ai retrouvé dans sa maison de retraite à Kigufi où je venais me reposer et le consulter. Durant toutes ces rencontres, j’ai eu l’occasion de connaître cet homme : quant à sa grandeur d’âme, quant à la profondeur de son sens chrétien des choses et quant à la perspicacité d’analyse des problèmes politiques de notre pays. Je dois avouer que même après sa mort, je garde un contact spirituel avec lui. Je ne dis pas que je prie pour lui, je le prie pour qu’il implore sur le Rwanda la paix et la prospérité. Je suis sûr qu’il est au ciel car s’il n’était pas là, cela signifierait que le ciel n’existe pas !

Tous les semant, alors que je caressais encore l’idée d’écrire quelque chose sur Monseigneur, une occasion providentielle est tombée. Les Amis de Mgr Bigirumwami ont voulu commémorer les 25 ans de sa mort qui est arrivé exactement le 3. 06. 1986. Ils ont bien voulu m’associer à cette commémoration. Saisissant la balle au bond, j’ai répondu oui et me propose aujourd’hui de coucher par écrit les idées qui suivent : Un Diocèse place sous la mouvance du saint esprit, L’indépendance du gouvernement de ce Diocèse, la formation du clergé, Une évangélisation en profondeur culturelle, La nomination des évêques et le problème ethnique, L’attitude de l’évêque à l’égard des autorités du pays et Une mort qui a prédit la fin de la nuit. Tel est le plan que nous allons suivre. Comme on le verra, ce plan ne suit pas un ordre chronologique. Il aligne des faits et des événements divers dont le lien consiste à souligner les éléments contenus dans l’intitulé de cet écrit, c’est-à-dire : comment Monseigneur a été une lumière providentielle pendant les malheurs politiques qui nous sont arrivés tout le long de son épiscopat.
Avant d’entrer dans le vif de ce sujet, voici un bref préambule. Une lumière dans les ténèbres, de quoi s’agit-il ? C’est Mgr Bigirumwami lui-même qui nous suggère cet intitulé par ces intuitions de départ. Celles-ci se trouvent dans le texte de la Bible que voici : «Quand le jour de la Pentecôte arriva, les Apôtres se trouvaient réunis tous ensemble. Tout à coup survint du ciel un bruit comme celui d’un violent coup de vent : la maison où ils se tenaient en fut toute remplie ; alors leur apparurent comme des langues de feu qui se partageaient et il s’en posa sur chacun d’eux. Ils furent tous remplis d’Esprit Saint et se mirent à parler d’autres langues, comme l’Esprit leur donnait de s’exprimer» (Act 2,1-4). C’est delà que nous est venue l’idée que Monseigneur, après avoir reçu lui-même la lumière de l’Esprit Saint, a pu être une lampe pour nous dans nos ténèbres politiques.
C’est le 14 Février 1952 que fut signé le Décret de nomination de l’abbé Aloys Bigirumwami comme évêque du nouveau Diocèse de Nyundo, par le Saint-Père Pie XII, sur proposition de Mgr Pierre Sigismond, Délégué Apostolique au Congo belge et au Ruanda-Urundi. Cette nomination est arrivée pendant les années où le mouvement de revendication de l’indépendance des pays africains commençait à agiter tout le continent. Un livre intitulé Des prêtres noirs s’interrogent (Paris, 1956) marque cet éveil. Parmi les signataires de ce livre se trouvait un certain Alexis Kagame. On imagine facilement que l’abbé Aloys Bigirumwami, son compatriote, avait été au courant de cet éveil, car ce vent n’avait pas épargné le Rwanda. Le roi Mutara et ses chefs ont saisi la balle au bond en exigeant, eux-aussi, le recouvrement de la souveraineté nationale du Rwanda. Ce que voyant, le colonisateur belge a crié à l’ingratitude : vous les Tutsi, on vous a donné le pouvoir exclusif sur le pays au dépens des Hutu et c’est vous, maintenant, qui allez nous chasser ? On va vous montrer ce que vous allez voir ! Tel est, en raccourci, le contexte national et international dans lequel et tombée la nomination de Mgr Bigirumwami.