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Rwanda

Uncomfortable Truths

More about Tutsi
Tutsis, also known as Batusi, Tussi, Watusi and Watutsi, live in countries like Rwanda and

Burundi in Africa. Tutsis are the people who came later into the territory of the Hutus and
got the power. They have been the minority, but always the powerful kind. In other words,
unlike Hutus who were large in number, Tutsis were always the minority. Yet they were

always the minority with power in both Rwanda and Burundi.
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Tutsis are taller and thinner. They have high-pitched voices. They also seem to have long
noses.
***
During German rule, Tutsis were given prominence because of their taller stature. They

were also ones with a long nose, one facial feature that is hard to find in African tribes.
Tutsis, thus got recognition from colonial rulers and received patronage, which got them

education and government jobs. Hutus, who were in majority, resented the special status
of Tutsis, and this resulted in sparks between the two tribes. The situation changed when

Belgium took over the power of control of the area. Belgians recognized the supremacy
of Hutus and allowed them to make the government. This reversal of policy made Tutsis
jealous.

It was when Belgian troops withdrew and pressurized dissolution of monarchy that the
problem surfaced. With no king to rule, there was a power vacuum and both groups tried

to fill this vacuum. The newly gained independence that was a result of the absence of
foreign rulers meant birth of two new countries, Rwanda ruled by Tutsis, and Burundi

dominated by Hutus. This bifurcation caused a lot of hatred and ill will that spread
across both countries with ethnic fighting between the two groups flaring up every now
and then for decades to come. This ethnic rivalry reached its flash point in 1994, when a

civil war raged in Rwanda. Tutsi rebels won this war that sent fearful Hutus, nearly a
million, into nearby Zaire and Congo. In Burundi though, Hutus won elections in 1993, but

the elected Hutu President got killed in a coup a few months later. Even his successor, a
Hutu, got killed in a plane crash a few months later in which the opposition Hutu leader
of Rwanda also got killed in suspicious circumstances. "

"Difference Between Hutu and Tuts" 115
DifferenceBetween.Com (September 2011) Posted by "Koshai"

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