The work Lamentation of innocence (Genocide) uses the form of the Mughal miniature to convey the tragic death of innocents in a world motivated by political machinations and racial hatred. Against a red backdrop, dead animals and grey-faced human corpses lie in a heap, with limbs entangled in a white shroud. Saira Wasim uses red backdrops to suggest theatre and artifice, though red also suggests violence in this image. Of Lamentation of innocence (Genocide) Wasim has said: 'figures lay in a huddle mound; animals intertwined with humans all are caught together in a net of death. It offers a simple picture of senseless slaughter of innocence. This intimation of futility is, in part, what lends this painting its particular poignancy.'(1) Despite the shocking nature of the subject, Lamentation of innocence (Genocide) is painted with the same delicacy and beauty as a Mughal miniature.

1. Wasim, Saira, Email to Suhanya Raffel, 9 September 2005.