A. Birlik
06-09-09, 01:20
Few days ago, a Uyghur student, Arfat, from UCLA interviewed by UCLA’s MSA (Muslim Student Association) newspaper Al Talib by student journalist Ms. Noori. The following contents are Arfat’s answers to the questions:
Al-Talib is the first and largest Muslim student newsmagazine in America. Al-Talib provides an insight into Islam and the Muslim-American ethos. Furthermore, Al-Talib serves the American community with deeper understanding of events that occur throughout the world.
1. What is your involvement in causes affecting China or Muslim struggles?
Since the 6/26/09 Shaw Guan massacre at a toy factory in Guandong (Southern China), my heart was broken and I knew that it was time for me to be involved. I was further influenced after the relatives of victims and students took to the street for demonstration for demand justice on July 5th, 2009 in my hometown of Urumq.
As a member of a small Uyghur community in the Bay Area, I attended a demonstration in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, and another related activity in San Francisco in July.
Since then, I always try to follow the news from all sources, talk to some Uyghur youth that have come from the region recently and find out what they saw and experienced. Besides that, I tried to post links to videos or news on my Facebook so that my friends can become aware of the situation.
2. What is the current situation of the people involved in the massacre?
Based on our very limited sources including information we gathered from the Uyghur people from the region after the event, we (as in the Uyghur Communities in the U.S. and around the world) learnt that the situation of the Uyghur people is not only getting worse, but horrible and terrifying what has happened.
The Chinese Government blocked any means of communication of the Uyghurs, such as internet and phone lines since 7/5/09 when the demonstrations took place. All media is under government control and since July 8th, they shut down all Uyghur websites as well as all Uyghur resident phone lines, which until recently would not work properly. During the first month since the massacre, I could not reach out to my relatives, and I have over 30 relatives still living in my homeland, and I feared for their lives and feared that the worst happened. Even though, recently I found out that they were safe so far, but even then, I couldn’t take the validity because people have become so fearful for their lives and their family, and I wasn’t sure if my relatives said that just to comfort our family here.
The Chinese paramilitary forces, military, police force, and the Chinese security forces have arrested Uyhgurs all over East Turkistan (the rightful name of the land). As far as we know, there has been about 30,000 young Uyghur men arrested…some of them released with conditions, some with horrible health conditions, some of them are beaten to death in jail or in the military camps. But the thing is, the Chinese police doesn’t return their bodies to their family, and most are still missing without any explanation by the authority. And looking at China’s policy towards Uyghur combining with their judicial system, most of those young men would be put to execution (which from inside accounts has said 300 have already been executed, more to come) or serve term in jail for life without any going to trial first.
3. How do you feel about the reaction (either national or world or Muslim)
to what took place? Do you feel the massacre was largely ignored? Why
is this important?
Yes, the massacre was largely ignored by the Islamic governments and western governments around the world due to the fact that Chinese media is government run, so any news coming from China is biased and any truth has been covered up so rest of the world are fed these lies and they don’t have the information to access the situation. I don’t think this is fair and just that we have been ignored, since all Uyghurs demand is nothing but moral, political and financial support and to take a stance against the Chinese government. When these events first took place in July, all you saw on the news was the hours upon hours of coverage about Michael Jackson’s death, and even Sarah Palin’s resignation was receiving equal coverage and I was lucky to see a 30-second segment on CNN about what was taking place back in Urumqi.
The Uyghur people have suffered even more and victims of the war on terrorism. Since September 2001, the Chinese government could do whatever they want by using this to their advantage and calling any sort of movement for independence by saying they are run by terrorist groups and calling our people that, just because we aren’t Chinese, we are minorities (IN OUR OWN LAND), and that we are Turkic Muslims.
4. What can be done to help prevent something like this happening again
besides spreading knowledge about it?
To prevent this from happening again, the U.N. must be examining the Chinese colonization policy toward Uyghurs and our region based on international laws and U.N. declarations. Otherwise, the situation of the Uyghurs will get worse day by day.
The Uyghur situation is the modern day version of the Holocaust, since not many members of the world community know about it due to the Chinese government’s effectiveness in reporting biased news and covering up the truth. The difference in the massacres today is that the governments who do know about the situation are too afraid to step in and take a stance due to China’s worldwide influence; it’s hard for the Western nations to offend China without any repercussions. 95% of what we wear and use in our daily lives are manufactured in China and ever since China’s economic rise, there has been an economic stranglehold on the world, it’s hard for nations to breakthrough and get their “hands dirty” by trying to deal with China. Therefore, if the U.N. or World communities do not take meaningful action, the situation will get worse.
5. Can someone at UCLA get involved or help and how?
To get UCLA involved, the Uyghur issue has to be brought forth to the student body.
Bring the Uyghur issue to human rights organizations. Establish an Uyghur support group amongst the East Asia, Central Asia, and other related student groups. Contact Hollywood actors, i.e. Richard Gere who is well aware of the Uyghur cause, and get them to support Uyghur human rights. Let the issue be known to the UCLA Muslim students. Invite well known Uyghur leader and human rights activist Rabiye Kadeer to the school like inviting Dalai Lama for the Tibet cause in the past.
(To be continued)
Al-Talib is the first and largest Muslim student newsmagazine in America. Al-Talib provides an insight into Islam and the Muslim-American ethos. Furthermore, Al-Talib serves the American community with deeper understanding of events that occur throughout the world.
1. What is your involvement in causes affecting China or Muslim struggles?
Since the 6/26/09 Shaw Guan massacre at a toy factory in Guandong (Southern China), my heart was broken and I knew that it was time for me to be involved. I was further influenced after the relatives of victims and students took to the street for demonstration for demand justice on July 5th, 2009 in my hometown of Urumq.
As a member of a small Uyghur community in the Bay Area, I attended a demonstration in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, and another related activity in San Francisco in July.
Since then, I always try to follow the news from all sources, talk to some Uyghur youth that have come from the region recently and find out what they saw and experienced. Besides that, I tried to post links to videos or news on my Facebook so that my friends can become aware of the situation.
2. What is the current situation of the people involved in the massacre?
Based on our very limited sources including information we gathered from the Uyghur people from the region after the event, we (as in the Uyghur Communities in the U.S. and around the world) learnt that the situation of the Uyghur people is not only getting worse, but horrible and terrifying what has happened.
The Chinese Government blocked any means of communication of the Uyghurs, such as internet and phone lines since 7/5/09 when the demonstrations took place. All media is under government control and since July 8th, they shut down all Uyghur websites as well as all Uyghur resident phone lines, which until recently would not work properly. During the first month since the massacre, I could not reach out to my relatives, and I have over 30 relatives still living in my homeland, and I feared for their lives and feared that the worst happened. Even though, recently I found out that they were safe so far, but even then, I couldn’t take the validity because people have become so fearful for their lives and their family, and I wasn’t sure if my relatives said that just to comfort our family here.
The Chinese paramilitary forces, military, police force, and the Chinese security forces have arrested Uyhgurs all over East Turkistan (the rightful name of the land). As far as we know, there has been about 30,000 young Uyghur men arrested…some of them released with conditions, some with horrible health conditions, some of them are beaten to death in jail or in the military camps. But the thing is, the Chinese police doesn’t return their bodies to their family, and most are still missing without any explanation by the authority. And looking at China’s policy towards Uyghur combining with their judicial system, most of those young men would be put to execution (which from inside accounts has said 300 have already been executed, more to come) or serve term in jail for life without any going to trial first.
3. How do you feel about the reaction (either national or world or Muslim)
to what took place? Do you feel the massacre was largely ignored? Why
is this important?
Yes, the massacre was largely ignored by the Islamic governments and western governments around the world due to the fact that Chinese media is government run, so any news coming from China is biased and any truth has been covered up so rest of the world are fed these lies and they don’t have the information to access the situation. I don’t think this is fair and just that we have been ignored, since all Uyghurs demand is nothing but moral, political and financial support and to take a stance against the Chinese government. When these events first took place in July, all you saw on the news was the hours upon hours of coverage about Michael Jackson’s death, and even Sarah Palin’s resignation was receiving equal coverage and I was lucky to see a 30-second segment on CNN about what was taking place back in Urumqi.
The Uyghur people have suffered even more and victims of the war on terrorism. Since September 2001, the Chinese government could do whatever they want by using this to their advantage and calling any sort of movement for independence by saying they are run by terrorist groups and calling our people that, just because we aren’t Chinese, we are minorities (IN OUR OWN LAND), and that we are Turkic Muslims.
4. What can be done to help prevent something like this happening again
besides spreading knowledge about it?
To prevent this from happening again, the U.N. must be examining the Chinese colonization policy toward Uyghurs and our region based on international laws and U.N. declarations. Otherwise, the situation of the Uyghurs will get worse day by day.
The Uyghur situation is the modern day version of the Holocaust, since not many members of the world community know about it due to the Chinese government’s effectiveness in reporting biased news and covering up the truth. The difference in the massacres today is that the governments who do know about the situation are too afraid to step in and take a stance due to China’s worldwide influence; it’s hard for the Western nations to offend China without any repercussions. 95% of what we wear and use in our daily lives are manufactured in China and ever since China’s economic rise, there has been an economic stranglehold on the world, it’s hard for nations to breakthrough and get their “hands dirty” by trying to deal with China. Therefore, if the U.N. or World communities do not take meaningful action, the situation will get worse.
5. Can someone at UCLA get involved or help and how?
To get UCLA involved, the Uyghur issue has to be brought forth to the student body.
Bring the Uyghur issue to human rights organizations. Establish an Uyghur support group amongst the East Asia, Central Asia, and other related student groups. Contact Hollywood actors, i.e. Richard Gere who is well aware of the Uyghur cause, and get them to support Uyghur human rights. Let the issue be known to the UCLA Muslim students. Invite well known Uyghur leader and human rights activist Rabiye Kadeer to the school like inviting Dalai Lama for the Tibet cause in the past.
(To be continued)