Going back in History: Understanding Burundi political crisis ,and uses and abuses of the G-word
Burundi is a landlocked country in the African Great Lakes region of East Africa, bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. It is also sometimes considered part of Central Africa. Burundi's capital is Bujumbura. Although the country is landlocked, much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika. Burundians -- a person from Burundi or of Burundian descent -- as well as Rwandans -- a person from Rwanda, or of Rwandan descent -- people are distinguished into three ethnic groups: the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. However,in Rwanda, it is important to remark that after the genocide of 1994 ,and the aftermath audacity and tenacity of the government to rebuild the nation, the government policy adapted to recognize one main ethnicity: "Rwandan".
Recently, Burundi has undergone political turmoil that have claimed several hundreds casualties and left more than several thousands to flee the country into neighboring countries. In addition, the Burundian political unrest is more alarming to the the ongoing suspicions that the conflict may result into another Genocide as what happened in Rwanda, when Hutu led government perpetrated and implemented a widespread mass atrocity of Tutsi and any Hutu sympathizer. The Burundian political instability evoked in April 2015 after the ruling party announced President Pierre Nkurunziza would seek a third term in office. Protesters claimed Nkurunziza could not run for a third term in office but the country's constitutional court agreed with the President (although some of its members had fled the country at the time of its vote). While Nkurunziza was visiting Tanzania on May 13th, an attempted coup d'état failed to depose him. Nkurunziza returned to Burundi the following day and began purging his government and arrested several of the coup leaders. Following the attempted coup, protests however continued and over 100,000 people had fled the country by 20 May causing a humanitarian emergency.
To sum up, the use of the genocide to describe the ongoing political crisis is quite a misrepresentation of the conflict ,and further the country into more disdain and antipathy as the memory of past atrocities have still yet to be reconciled. Although, using the term ‘genocide’ to describe the killings in Burundi may suit the political objectives of those who indulge in it -- mainly, the opposition --, but it is also producing a negative side-effect which may well come back to haunt us all in the future. Among the negative effect, it is spreading fear, panic, and suspicion among the Burundians themselves and their neighbors, Rwandans, to whom the memory of Genocide is still dreadful and troublesome. Therefore, we should understand the conflict in Burundi which is for now mainly post election violence, as the opposition continues at large to denounce Nkurunziza's presidency as illegitimate while Nkurunziza and his supporters have responded with violence.
To sum up, the use of the genocide to describe the ongoing political crisis is quite a misrepresentation of the conflict ,and further the country into more disdain and antipathy as the memory of past atrocities have still yet to be reconciled. Although, using the term ‘genocide’ to describe the killings in Burundi may suit the political objectives of those who indulge in it -- mainly, the opposition --, but it is also producing a negative side-effect which may well come back to haunt us all in the future. Among the negative effect, it is spreading fear, panic, and suspicion among the Burundians themselves and their neighbors, Rwandans, to whom the memory of Genocide is still dreadful and troublesome. Therefore, we should understand the conflict in Burundi which is for now mainly post election violence, as the opposition continues at large to denounce Nkurunziza's presidency as illegitimate while Nkurunziza and his supporters have responded with violence.
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