Free Xinjiang!
“Instead of being a king in a foreign land, be a cobbler in your motherland.” – Old Uighur Proverb
As the Chinese put on perhaps the most charismatic opening ceremonies in the history of the Olympic Games, there was a definite overcompensating quality about the excessive opulence and almost provocative aggressiveness with which the performance was delivered. It was almost as if China was sending a message to the international community, “We are here and we are here to stay”. More importantly, for a moment the celebration of Chinese civilization overshadowed the long-standing Tibetan struggle. In a way, China was also telling its dissidents that they would no longer be allowed use the Olympics to further their own political agenda. Although the Tibetan movement can always rely on the West to adopt the initiative, the Uighur Muslims of China lack this luxury and remain an unknown entity.
In the run-up to the Olympics, Tibetan activists were mauling torchbearers, and “Free Tibet” fever was gripping Western audiences who so willingly embrace the Tibetan cause perhaps due to its commercial Buddhist appeal. Granted, China’s human rights record is deplorable and its treatment of Tibetans is unjustified, but why do we ignore the fact the CIA has been involved in Tibet trying to stir up anti-Chinese sentiment since the 1950’s? Why do we ignore the fact that the mainstream media could easily shift public discourse and proclaim the Dalai Lama a terrorist if his cause was not aligned with American interests? Why do we ignore the fact that Chinese Uighur Muslims have also been victims of a cultural genocide at the hands of Hans Chinese for decades?
Perhaps Bush’s failing “War on Terror” has dented our psyche to such an extent that we have subconsciously accepted that Muslim minorities, whether it’s the Uighurs of China, the Chechen’s of Russia, or the Muslims of the Philippines are aggressors by default. Hence, popular opinion holds that when Tibetans kill Chinese soldiers, they are exercising their right to freedom, and when Uighurs recently attacked Chinese police, it was an act of terror. The flawed “War on Terror” philosophy has allowed states to suppress their Muslim minorities with impunity and without fear of international condemnation.
The Chinese oppression of the Uighurs is noted in an illuminating article from Globe and Mail Beijing Correspondent Geoffrey York:
“Here in the heartland of China’s Muslims, mosques are usually pad-locked. In the brief time they are open, worshippers must obey a strict set of rules: no criticism of the authorities, no unregistered guests, no contact with foreign organizations, no visitors under 18, no encouragement of veils and mandatory reporting of people’s prayers”
“Now, the traditional identity of the Muslims is under siege. Their historic streets are being demolished to make room for Chinese shopping malls. Their language and culture are eroding under a tide of newcomers from China’s Han majority. Hundreds of mosques still survive, but they are tightly controlled and monitored. Thousands of Muslims have been arrested as suspected terrorists, and hundreds have been executed.”
“Beijing’s levers of control are everywhere. Uighurs who work as teachers or other public-sector jobs, for example, are prohibited from wearing Islamic beards or veils, carrying the Koran or attending mosques. Female schoolchildren cannot wear the veil. Most Uighurs cannot get passports for foreign travel.”
“Government policies are tilted to favour the new arrivals. The best jobs and university opportunities are reserved for those who speak Chinese, leaving the Uighurs largely on the outside. Most university classes are taught in the Chinese language. Even in Kashgar, an overwhelmingly Uighur city, most street signs and shop signs are written in large Chinese characters, while the Uighur signs are smaller or non-existent.”
“Medieval streets nearby have been demolished, ancient tombs dug up and moved, and hundreds of Muslims forced to relocate to make room for a 55,000-square-metre shopping plaza with almost 3,000 new shops.”
The Uighurs continue to live as cobblers’, although their motherland apparently sees them as nothing more than separatist nomadic terrorists. Amid the burst of Olympic fire-works and the periodic unfurling of the Tibetan flag, it is important that we as a society do not forget the plight of the Uighur Muslims of China.
Let me be the first to proclaim: “Free Xinjiang!”
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Free-Xinjiang-by-Aurangzeb-Qureshi-080813-752.html
Hmm…seems like I have to log it to comment on blogs.
I’ve said it years ago…their plight won’t be known to the World until the day there’s a terror attack in Beijing or something, which is a extremely sad state of affairs. Why not address these sorts of issues, BEFORE people get radicalized and start thinking militarily?
Half of the responsibility on educating others on the topic rests on us, and so I’m glad that you wrote this entry (and that Firaz wrote an article for the WM on this topic).
Considering what is happening between Russia and Georgia…things would be a lot easier if they could simply label the Georgians as Muslims (though Muslims do constitute 10% of the Georgian population, they aren’t involved politically or militarily in this conflict to my knowledge). If Russia could do that, this could be another “War on Terror” run a la Israel’s collective punishment of Lebenon because of something Hezbullah did.
no doubt man…thing is Russia has already used the terrorism angle when it comes to the chechens and have quashed that resistance for the time being anyways…and this is not supposed to be an attack on china either…i mean the west is just as worse or even worse with what we do with native canadians and the American record with their own black citizens…its just really ridiculous to see how some in the west are so easily influenced by the consumerist buddhist fad that they’ll support the tibet freedom movement based on that alone and ignore everything else just becuase its not “cool” right now…
I recall reading a similar article about Xinjiang about a year ago written for this very same magazine. Just a little friendly advice: it mind be a good idea to be a little original once in a while.
It looks like the focus of both articles are a bit different. This one speaks about how mainstream media has ignored the plight of the Uighers in their recent coverage of everything China as a result of the 2008 Olympic Games, and how they are buying into China’s claims that it is simply an extention of the war on terror, and looking at Tibet in a different light.
When Firaz wrote the earlier article, we didn’t see that much media focused on China at the time. It is interesting to see how the media has covered this situation during the Olympics, something that Firaz wasn’t able to comment on.
Also keep in mind that this is a blog entry rather than an article. There will probably be some duplicity in that regard, some blogs may cover news items covered by WM published articles.
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