What touched off the riot in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjian in China, is not yet clear. The killing of two Uighrs by Han Chinese workers may have been the immediate provocation. However, that alone cannot explain the scale of violence in which more than 150 persons were killed and thousands injured.
The official Chinese reaction was that the riot was caused by the “terrorist, separatist and extremist forces”. The people and their leaders are accused of being terrorists by the Chinese government. However, the people have not indulged in any activities that are generally associated with terrorists, separatists and extremist forces. What the televisions has been showing is ordinary people with sticks and rods running along the streets beating others and settings things and buildings on fire.
No one of consequence in the region or outside has endorsed the violence. Rabiya Kadeer the exiled leader wrote in The Wall Street Journal “I unequivocally condemn the use of violence by Uighurs during the demonstrations as much as I do China’s use of excessive force against protestors”.
China has labeled, even the Dali Lama, who has won a Nobel Prize for peace, ‘a wolf in monk’s dress’ and a terrorist. Wang Lequan, head of the Xinjiang Communist party and a politburo member, said that “The terrorist, separatist and extremist forces cheated the people to participate in the so-called Jihad”. But the fact is that no one has described the rioting as ‘Jihad’. He is just trying to take advantage of what is known as the ‘Islamic terrorism’ in the West.
The People’s Daily, China’s official newspaper compared Rabiya Kabeer with the Dalai Lama and said “…she did as much or more than, as the Dalai Lama and his clique to sow resentment among the ethnic Uighur people”. The comparison with the Dalai Lama, who has been fighting the Chinese aggression of Tibet, for decades, speaks volumes. Tibetan’s are a group of people who have a distinct language, and culture of their own and deserve to be treated as a separate nation. Not only that they have been a separate nation historically. Yet the Chinese has annexed Tibet claiming it to be a part of China.
However, the paper’s comment may be said to reveal an ethnic issue. The issue of the ethnic Uighur people. The Uighur is a nomadic, pastoral people of Turkic origin.
Urumqui is the homeland of the Uighur’s. But the endless migration of the Hans into the region has reduced the natives Urighurs to a group of second class citizens. They have no voice in the government. No one takes care of their concerns. This negligence by the Chinese government made the Uighurs feel bitter about the Han settlements.
The attitude of the Chinese authorities towards the non Han people in China is well known to the world.
Annihilation of all the non Han peoples has been one of the major objectives of what is called the Cultural Revolution. One may recall the Chinese claim that Arunachl Pradesh of India is in fact Chinese territory. A couple of weeks back the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had excluded Arunachal Pradesh while reckoning the amount to give to India for developmental activities. The ADB excluded Arunachal Pradesh from the plan on the objections by China.
The official Chinese reaction was that the riot was caused by the “terrorist, separatist and extremist forces”. The people and their leaders are accused of being terrorists by the Chinese government. However, the people have not indulged in any activities that are generally associated with terrorists, separatists and extremist forces. What the televisions has been showing is ordinary people with sticks and rods running along the streets beating others and settings things and buildings on fire.
No one of consequence in the region or outside has endorsed the violence. Rabiya Kadeer the exiled leader wrote in The Wall Street Journal “I unequivocally condemn the use of violence by Uighurs during the demonstrations as much as I do China’s use of excessive force against protestors”.
China has labeled, even the Dali Lama, who has won a Nobel Prize for peace, ‘a wolf in monk’s dress’ and a terrorist. Wang Lequan, head of the Xinjiang Communist party and a politburo member, said that “The terrorist, separatist and extremist forces cheated the people to participate in the so-called Jihad”. But the fact is that no one has described the rioting as ‘Jihad’. He is just trying to take advantage of what is known as the ‘Islamic terrorism’ in the West.
The People’s Daily, China’s official newspaper compared Rabiya Kabeer with the Dalai Lama and said “…she did as much or more than, as the Dalai Lama and his clique to sow resentment among the ethnic Uighur people”. The comparison with the Dalai Lama, who has been fighting the Chinese aggression of Tibet, for decades, speaks volumes. Tibetan’s are a group of people who have a distinct language, and culture of their own and deserve to be treated as a separate nation. Not only that they have been a separate nation historically. Yet the Chinese has annexed Tibet claiming it to be a part of China.
However, the paper’s comment may be said to reveal an ethnic issue. The issue of the ethnic Uighur people. The Uighur is a nomadic, pastoral people of Turkic origin.
Urumqui is the homeland of the Uighur’s. But the endless migration of the Hans into the region has reduced the natives Urighurs to a group of second class citizens. They have no voice in the government. No one takes care of their concerns. This negligence by the Chinese government made the Uighurs feel bitter about the Han settlements.
The attitude of the Chinese authorities towards the non Han people in China is well known to the world.
Annihilation of all the non Han peoples has been one of the major objectives of what is called the Cultural Revolution. One may recall the Chinese claim that Arunachl Pradesh of India is in fact Chinese territory. A couple of weeks back the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had excluded Arunachal Pradesh while reckoning the amount to give to India for developmental activities. The ADB excluded Arunachal Pradesh from the plan on the objections by China.
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