Reports have abounded in the press in recent months about the alleged human rights violations by the Chinese government against Uighur Muslims in the small autonomous region of Ningxia in north-central China. The major allegation is that China considers Islam as a ‘mental illness’. And that the government has set up training camps to cure the ‘disease’.
The Chinese government, of course, denies these accusations. They say it is a part of the State’s de-radicalization campaign against extremism. The idea is to retrain or re-educate members of the group in the time-honoured and valued traditions of the Chinese State and society. It is not clear what these values are other than an attempt to create a uniformed identity and to quash diversity by force. China renamed the Aiyi river, named after Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) wife Ayesha, as Diannong to reduce the region’s Islamic identity. Diannong is the ancient name of Ningxia capital, Yinchuan.
However, accounts of Uighur Muslims state that the Chinese government treats Islam as some sort of mental disease that needs to be cured. The recent campaign is conducted in an effort to eliminate Islamic belief from the Uighur population. The surge in arrests and forced encampment of ordinary citizens, analysts say, is an attack on Islamic faith and the Uighurs cultural Muslim identity rather than a campaign against radicalization. Some also see it as a strategy for political and territorial control as Uighurs have made claims of independence in the past.
Prime Minister is aware that since his own country is involved in many human rights violations against the Baloch, Pashtuns and against religious minorities, he has no moral standing to condemn the policy of the Chinese government
This makes sense because, as part of China’s New Era policy, President Xi Jinping has tightened the state’s control to resuscitate China’s social and political fabric to its former ‘glory’. Some view this as a new episode of political repression after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, under Premier Li Peng who backed the use of force to quell student protestors. Hundreds of students were killed in the attack, although it is said the actual number could be higher.
The good news is that China has boomed as an economic power by relaxing laws but at the same time, it has increased selective oppression to stifle political dissent. The internet, for example, is available for enabling technological advancement and economic activity, but its use as a tool for political freedom is highly surveilled.
Over the past few decades, after the havoc of Cultural Revolution and Mao’s demise, beginning with Deng Xiaoping in 1978, China has invested immensely in education and State building. Xiaoping sent young party leaders and bureaucrats to the West to study economics and other disciplines to return and improve the bureaucracy and institutions. It has worked well for the Communist Party and the state. Philip Pan says “Over the past four decades, economic growth in China has been 10 times faster than in the United States, and it is still more than twice as fast.”
The party has also maintained a tight grip on citizens through the bureaucracy. However, it is doubtful to what extent and for how long will this hitherto effective policy of control lasts. Investment in education and economic growth have expanded the size of China’s middle class and possibly have changed the hierarchy of their needs. Soon, they may demand clean air, better education and perhaps political freedom. It is unclear how the government will respond to this imagined threat from a new class of citizens.
Since Pakistan and China are great and immortal friends, and their friendship is growing even stronger with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, one wonders where does Prime Minister Imran Khan stand on the issue of Uighur Muslims. In his recent visit, the Prime Minister did not say anything, although one can excuse him for the purpose of the visit was specifically economic and urgent. But, his government has not issued a single statement of condemnation in the support of Uighurs during their hundred days in power.
One can then safely draw two conclusions from this negligence and moral desertion. One, the Prime Minister is aware that since his own country is involved in many human rights violations against the Baloch, Pashtuns and against religious minorities, he has no moral standing to condemn the policy of the Chinese government. If he thinks that he should first fix his house before pointing finger at his neighbour friend, that makes sense. However, the problem is, as our history is witness, it would be too long a wait for the poor Uighurs to bear. So if anything is to be said or done, it is now.
The second conclusion is rather shameful; his government favors economic and strategic interests over human rights of its brothers and sisters in faith that successive Pakistani governments have vowed to protect the world over. It would not be a stretch to say that the government’s silence could be an outcome of the unresolved challenge that the Baloch insurgency for an independent state poses, which is somewhat analogous to China’s worry over territorial disintegration.
Anyways, where it really gets shameful is when the zealous government and citizenry cry foul over mistreatment of Muslims in Kashmir and Palestine, among other places, and yet remains silent over China. India, Israel and the West are the “enemies” of Islam and Muslims, but China remains a friend. This duality is condemnable.
The writer is a PhD student and a teaching assistant at Rutgers University
Published in Daily Times, December 5th 2018.