The nationality original to Xinjiang is called Uighur and is Muslim by faith. Its exiled representatives in Germany had their own version of the incident, calling the assailants people made desperate because they “could no longer bear China’s systematic repression, and have been denied outlets for peaceful protest”. The problem is ethnic-religious and relates to the universal phenomenon of sub-identities inside a nation state, with some dubious input from the outside. The Chinese recipe for the problem’s solution is rapid economic growth, nation-building and prosperity of the common man. Some of the elements are familiar to us. The Uighur community feels overwhelmed by the movement of the majority Han Chinese into the province; and there are clear ethnic-linguistic markers that the resulting contrast of talents throws up as contributors to intra-state conflict. The Chinese solution is also well accepted.
In fact, one reason we give for the unrest in our own province of Balochistan is long periods of neglect and lack of economic progress. While it is questionable that India and the US have and are fomenting trouble in Balochistan, China is clear that the Xinjiang violence despite high growth has been fanned by religious-jihadi movements percolating in two neighbouring states: Pakistan and Kazakhstan. Both states have joined the Shanghai Forum organised by China to prevent the rise of terrorism in the region. Pakistan has taken effective action against al Qaeda-linked elements in our Tribal Areas attracting Uighur recruits from Xinjiang. The Chinese authorities have recognised this and have been very understanding, despite capturing local terrorists who confessed to receiving training in Waziristan. Like Balochistan, Xinjiang is mineral-rich and is strategically crucial to the security of China. Like India (Assam) and Pakistan, movements of separatism have been based on the collective awareness — or illusion — about the minerals as pillars of a new sustainable state. The truth, however, is that such states are not viable for other reasons, as Sardar Ataullah Mengal recently tried to tell the Baloch rebels. What is viable is economic development mixed liberally with autonomy. And this is what Pakistan seems to aim at in this late hour. However, in China, despite development and autonomy the nature of terrorism, because of its religious base, refuses to accept the modern state.
In Pakistan, opinion is overwhelmingly sympathetic to the Chinese position, not only because sub-states are mostly unviable, but because terrorism simply decreases stability of a modern state. In 2010, the capital of Xinjiang, Urumqi, experienced widespread rioting, after which the Chinese government pumped in $100 billion over a five-year period. More realistically, it created economic zones to link the province closer to ‘Pakistan and the seven other neighbouring countries that border Xinjiang’. Unfortunately, the 2010 uprising at Urumqi was spearheaded by elements that took their training in the camps of East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) — declared terrorist by the UN in 2002 — inside Pakistan, most probably in the terrorist camps organised by al Qaeda. Our ISPR chief, Major-General Athar Abbas, underlined on August 5, 2010, that “the Pakistan Army has been and would continue operations against ETIM, and our cooperation (with China) will continue”.
What joins Pakistan and China is the common struggle against terrorism. The future of Central Asia is tied to the economic pre-eminence of China as a source of investment. And Central Asia is bound to become economically connected with South Asia through the territorial mediation of Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2012.
COMMENTS (18)
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kaalchakra,
your statements on the Uyghur of Xinjiang have no basis in reality. Not full Muslims?
What, they must be fundamentalists to be acknowledged as full Muslims? Shows your limited understanding of Islam in its many forms.
Mostly happy? Yes thats why there are riots and desperate attacks on a periodic basis.
Funded by the CIA? I see you are a conspiracist. Pity the PRC if angry Uyghur actually ever do get their hands on real weapons rather than knives, axes and home made bombs.
I doubt you have ever been to Xinjiang and one wonders how you draw your conclusions.
@Feroz: Natural process....action and reaction principles. Natives (Pundits) chased away...so how can settlers (muslims) have right for Kashmir -is it because they are majority? Same principle for Xinjiang-religious settlers cannot be natives....Exception is tibet which is a nation by itself. China is going to have fun.... economic advances will only buy time..at the end....democracy is the only way....a language that is very difficult to understand for communists and islamists.Balochistan is culturally and historically a different nation with less connection to Indian subcontinent. India therefore watches the fun.
Wen Yiduo
You seem like a good fellow, really concerned about the basic religious freedoms of Muslims in that part of the world. Ideally, Pakistanis would love to join you. So you shouldn't think of it as any sort of hypocrisy or anything.
But there are so many Muslims. Some have to receive preference. Some have to wait their turn, if they are able to wait. You surely can take a message of support. Well, that wouldn't be right. May be it is safe to reiterate brotherhood. But please be a little discreet about that. Start by saying that we hope all citizens of China will contribute equally to the building of that great nation. Intelligent ones will understand what we are trying to say.
Pakistan doesn't have to sacrifice any interests to speak out for Muslims in China. There are serious abuses here against Muslims. Why do you turn a blind eye against this? Yes, you're correct about America's abuses. But why not also speak out about what's happening to your brothers in China? Don't believe the Chinese propaganda about happy Uyghurs because it's a lie. I invite you to go to Xinjiang and talk to people for yourself. You'll be shocked when you see what's happening there.
Uighurs say state interference is pervasive. Imams are selected by the government and are closely monitored. In addition, religious schools and books on Islam are controlled or banned. Uighurs say there are hidden cameras at some mosques and that plain-clothes police watch who comes and goes. Muslim schools have been shut down. There is also interference in Ramadan.
The government attempts to restrict fasting during this period, trying to ferret out which government officials are observing the practice by seeing which homes have lights on in the very early morning hours, when families are preparing their morning meal before fasting begins at dawn. Uighurs have told me that local officials force restaurants to remain open during the fasting period. State units organise lunches for government employees, and in some areas, say students, universities provide free lunches for students, hoping to encourage them to break the fast.
A list of 23 prohibited religious practices pertaining to Uighur Muslims was posted on local government websites. Such activities as having an imam say a particular prayer at a wedding, mourning ceremonies, and people praying together outdoors were banned. Each of more than a dozen mosques I visited had large posters containing the State Council’s Religious Affairs Regulations, which lay out government control of religion in China.
Uighurs are only allowed to participate in the haj under the strict auspices of the Chinese government. Quotas limit the number of Uighurs allowed to travel there and the few who can go pay exorbitant fees. Throughout the old part of Kashgar, an admonition has been stencilled on the walls of houses in both Arabic script and Chinese: “Unauthorised religious pilgrimages are illegal religious activities.”
Muslims around the world stay silent about this because they see China as an ally or a source of economic funding. This is morally wrong. So far, Turkey has been the only country to speak out about this. If Americans did this, there would be outrage. But when China does it, there's silence. Why?
Wen Yiduo
Americans spend all this money in order to exercise global control, fund internal allies and spies against mother countries, to promote pliant native leadership, and to protect their own interests. Who would know that better than Pakistanis? America has spent billions of dollars 'on Pakistan' but has that money done Pakistan any good? So don't be misled about American intentions just because you see American money.
On the one hand Americans give money to chinse 'students'. On the other they also create propaganda about Yighur 'disatisfaction.' Who is not dissatisfied? Are African Americans not dissatisfied? Only criminals become terrorists against nations friendly to Pakistan. Should Pakistan sacrifice its interests to protect these so-called Muslims?
Please check your facts before publishing. You did not even list the correct year for the unrest that took place in Urumchi (Urumqi). It occurred in 2009, not 2010. And your assertion that the unrest was spearheaded by ETIM/terrorists is simply laughable.
Kaalchakra, Have you been to Xinjiang? The Xinjiang problem is not exaggerated by the Americans. I've made four visits there and there's widespread dissatisfaction with the Chinese rule. Unemployment is rather high, the province has the largest jail population in China, there is major discrimination, and the government grossly interferes in the practice of Islam. One Uyghur expert said to me the Chinese government is actively carrying out cultural genocide in the "province." Not sure what you mean when you say Uyghurs are not fully Muslim, but there are mosques everywhere, and men can be seen pouring into mosques several times a day to pray, despite the strict controls on religion. It's not difficult to find examples of Uyghur dissatisfaction. People are petrified to talk, but if you have a chance to talk with them, they'll describe their anger and fears. I suggest you look for yourself and not believe Chinese propaganda. I also disagree about the US wanting to keep China down. If this was the case, would there be 60,000 Chinese students in the US studying, many on scholarships? Would American NGOs be dedicating so much time and money in China? Would American companies be sharing their technology so freely?
"In Pakistan, opinion is overwhelmingly sympathetic to the Chinese position, not only because sub-states are mostly unviable, but because terrorism simply decreases stability of a modern state."
Now apply that same reasoning to Kashmir. This is the reason why Pakistanis are called pathological liars. Even hyprocisy is a mild word for what comes out of a Pakistani's mouth.
Wen Yiduo, the Xingjiang problem is being exacerabated by the Americans who wish to keep China down. Uighurs are mostly happy and satisfied. A few of them being misled by the use of CIA funding. Also, you may be unaware, Uighurs are not fully Muslim,
Pakistan and China are friends, India is a common enemy. What is happening in Xinjiang and Baluchistan are very simple - a speedy attempt to change the ethnic composition of these provinces by settling outsiders there with the goal of making ethnic locals into a minority. Indian policies in Kashmir wins respect because it bans all Indians from buying land and settling there even though fundamentalists have chased away local Pundits the original inhabitants and owners of land. Propaganda will of course try to vitiate the truth.
@Wen Yiduo, how is treatment meted out to the Uighurs is different from the ones minorities are subject to in Pakistan?
@Cynical: " .. Concentrate on Kashmir, we have nothing to loose but everything to gain...."
More like : Concentrate on Kashmir, we have nothing to gain but everything to lose.
The US burns copies of the Koran and there's justifiable outrage in the Muslim world. China abuses the rights of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang for decades and there's not a single outcry. Why is that? China may be a friend to Pakistan for its own selfish geopolitical reasons, but it's no friend to Islam, which it fears.
Your editorial shows your ignorance of the situation in Xinjiang and plays into the hands of Chinese propagandists who use the threat of terrorism to crack down on it's Muslim population with impunity. China grossly interferes in the practice of religious freedom in Xinjiang, seriously interfering in the operation of mosques. Muslims are discriminated against by the Han majority, which the Chinese send to the region to Sinicize the province. It's sad that a newspaper in Pakistan is so ignorant of these abuses. Are you aware that Muslims are forced to break the Ramadan fast? Do you know the Chinese government restricts who can go into a mosque?
There is no organized terrorist movement in Xinjiang, just angry people, upset at being abused and having their religion trampled on. ETIM stopped existing years ago when it's leaders were killed in Afghanistan in a US air attack; in any case, it was never really a big threat. There are no signs of any major terrorist activities anywhere in China. The Chinese government throws these terms around to justify it's human rights abuses, but so far has failed to provide any evidence or names.
I would wish that a newspaper in Pakistan, a Muslim country, would spend more time denouncing the abuses against Islam in your neighboring country, but apparently, Muslim countries that rely on China for support lack the guts to do this. Shame on you.
"In Pakistan, opinion is overwhelmingly sympathetic to the Chinese position, not only because sub-states are mostly unviable, but because terrorism simply decreases stability of a modern state." This from a country that renders 'moral' support to the Kashmir terrorism?
Poor Editorial from ET... wrong facts and unnecessary geopolitical exaggeration.. you can't compare everything with Baluchistan. huh..
Let's not get distracted.Focus is the word. Ignore xinjiang; China is an all weather friend, invests in Pakistan, supply arms, acts as a skin balm against International heat. Concentrate on Kashmir, we have nothing to loose but everything to gain.India never helped us and never will.
"What joins Pakistan and China is the common struggle against terrorism."
Heard something similar before:
"What joins Pakistan and USA is the common struggle against terrorism."