“The scale of the crimes being committed against the Chinese Uighur Muslims is unfathomable, while the silence of “Islamic” governments, whose relationships with the government of China are as deep as there are economically fruitful, is deafening,” writes Tamim Mobayad, author/researcher, in an article documenting the grossly demeaning and increasingly violent incursions on the human rights of this Muslim minority group, who reside primarily in Xinjiang.
For years, the Chinese Communist government has consistently escalated its oppression of the Uyghurs following the 2009 riots (some say were instigated by government paid agitators) that left more than 200 dead, 1,200 injured and dozens more disappeared. By all estimations, the province of Xinjiang has been deemed ‘an open air prison’.
China’s need to press hard against this group may stem from apprehensions of the recurring waves of separatist sentiment that have plagued Beijing since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, when many of the former satellite states achieved independence. The Uyghur ‘separatist’ movements were brutally suppressed by the Beijing regime. Yet the people’s spirit and desire to live their faith remains alive.
Similar to the plight of the Kashmiri people against the brutal oppression of their Indian occupation forces, the Uyghur people persist in their staunch belief in Islam and determination to persevere and practice their faith. The looming question is: where is the international Muslim Ummah at this time and in the past when the assault on Islam and the lives, religion and culture of the Uyghur people has not only been threatened, but cut off completely? And where is the international outcry from the United Nations and other human rights organizations hammering the Chinese government over the brutality and lawless repression being perpetrated against these innocent people? No other religious group in China is oppressed to the extent that government officials live in their homes to make certain that the residents do not follow their religious practices such as fasting during the holy month of Ramadhan.
The Uyghur Muslims of China should be granted the same human rights as all other people in China and the world: freedom to believe and practice what faith they choose. The UN, along with Muslim nations around the world (who owe a duty before Allah Almighty to defend/support helpless Muslims who are being attacked and oppressed) must immediately demand that the human rights violations end and they be left alone to practice their religion in peace!
R.A. Hameed/ The Islamic Post
