THE international journey of the Olympic flame to Beijing for the 2008 Games has been disrupted regularly by protestors demonstrating about a variety of issues - China's support for regimes in Sudan, North Korea and Myanmar, the political status of Taiwan, and the persecution of the Falun Gong movement. The number one grievance, however, has been China's occupation of Tibet and the oppression of its local inhabitants. The Tibetans' plight has brought thousands of people onto the streets; some activists have even physically assaulted the torch-bearers, and many have been arrested. In recent months, another segment of Chinese society has been organizing similar protests against the Olympic flame's journey through their areas. These protests have barely warranted a mention in the mainstream media. Where it has been discussed, it has usually been in the context of fighting terrorism. Several of these activists have been arrested, detained and even executed for their dissent. They are the Uighurs of China's oil-rich northwestern province of Xinjiang. History The Uighurs are an ethnically Turkic Muslim people who have lived in what is now known as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) for over 4,000 years. Earlier known as Eastern Turkistan, Xinjiang is located along the “Silk Road”, beyond the Great Wall. Islam entered the region in the middle of the 10th century and has flourished among the Uighurs ever since. The Uighurs ruled an independent kingdom, with a mixed Muslim and Buddhist population, that stood until 1759, when the Manchu Chinese invaded and destroyed it; their domination lasted until 1864. During this period, the Uighurs revolted 42 times against Manchu rule, trying to regain their independence. In the revolt of 1864, the Uighurs were successful in expelling the Manchu from East Turkistan, and founded the independent Kashgaria kingdom under the leadership of Yakub Beg. This kingdom was recognized by the Ottoman Empire, Tsarist Russia and Britain. However, 12 years later, in 1876, a large Manchu force, with the aid of the British, once again attacked and conquered East Turkistan. After this invasion, East Turkistan was renamed “Xinjiang”, which means “New Territory”, and it was annexed by the Manchu Empire on November 18, 1884. What followed were several rebellions by various Uighur movements which succeeded in setting up an independent Islamic Eastern Turkistan Republic in both 1933 and 1944. With the rise of the Communist Party in China in 1949, however, the most brutal chapter in the history of Xinjiang commenced. Religious persecution Currently, Xinjiang is the only province of China to have a Muslim majority; it and occupied Tibet are the only administrative regions of China in which the ethnic Chinese still constitute a minority. It accounts for 16 percent of its landmass with only 1.6 percent of its population. Xinjiang has tremendous strategic significance for China: nuclear tests have been conducted at the Lop Nor Range; a large portion of China's mineral resources are found there, including 38 percent of its coal reserves and 25 percent of its petroleum and natural gas reserves. Despite this wealth, more than 90 percent of Muslims live below the poverty line. Money has poured in, but has mostly benefited the Han Chinese who were encouraged by the government to settle in the region. The Uighurs find themselves in a situation very similar to the Tibetans. Like them, Uighurs endured decades of discrimination and oppression under Chinese rule. A religious and ethnic minority, they are routinely denied basic civil, religious and political rights. As Islam is perceived as the ideology underpinning Uighur ethnic identity, the government also represses most outward expressions of Islam. Actions that are strictly forbidden for Uighurs include celebrating Islamic festivals, studying religious texts or dressing in Islamic garb at state institutions, including schools. The Chinese government vets who can be an imam, what version of the Qur'an is acceptable, where religious gatherings may be held, and what may be said at such gatherings. Recently-introduced regulations forbid local government employees and young men under the age of 18 from praying in the mosque, ban teachers from wearing beards and students from bringing the Qur'an to university. In June, a court in the region sentenced five Muslim imams to seven years' imprisonment for illegally organizing Haj pilgrimages to Makkah. The imams were also charged with illegally providing copies of the Qur'an at a recent sentencing rally in Xayar County, near Aksu City. Amnesty International has documented that, since 2001, “tens of thousands of people are reported to have been detained for investigation in the region, and hundreds, possibly thousands, have been charged or sentenced under the Criminal Law; many Uighurs are believed to have been sentenced to death and executed for alleged “separatist” or “terrorist” offences.” AI has further reported that once imprisoned, detainees are subjected to types of torture from cigarette-burns on the skin to submersion in water or raw sewage. Prisoners have had toenails extracted by pliers, been attacked by dogs and burned with electric batons, even cattle prods. One terrifying account is the story of a prisoner who had horse hair inserted into the tip of his penis. Throughout this brutality, the victim was forced to wear a metal helmet on his head because a previous inmate had been so traumatized by his treatment in the prison that he had beaten his own head against a radiator in an attempt to take his life. In a 2005 report, Human Rights Watch accused China of “opportunistically using the post-11 September environment to make the outrageous claim that individuals disseminating peaceful religious and cultural messages in Xinjiang are terrorists who have simply changed tactics.” The report stated that the systematic repression of religion in Xinjiang, including the vetting of imams, the closure of mosques and the execution and detention of thousands of people every year, was continuing as “a matter of considered state policy.” Olympic threat In the run-up to the Olympic Games, China has increased its persecution of the Uighurs to unprecedented levels. China has justified this crackdown in the name of national security to counter the “threat” of Uighur Muslim militants eager to exploit the Olympics for their own political agenda. This persecution in the name of security has spread to Chinese civil society. While hotels in Beijing are busy welcoming guests from around the world, they are turning away China's own ethnic minorities, especially Uighur Muslims. Signs like the following have also been posted up in many public buildings in Beijing: “Whenever anyone that can be identified as “Tibetans”, “Xinjiang Uighurs” and “Qinghai Hualong Hui's” enters the building, please report them to the security department. Security guards will persuade them to leave the building, or follow them till they do so. Conclusion The dual prism through which Chinese human-rights abuses are viewed is glaringly apparent. Chinese repression in Tibet brings forth the strongest condemnation from the governments and people of the world. Almost identical subjugation in Xinjiang goes unnoticed or is seen as a necessary response to a security threat. Most people have never even heard of the Uighurs. As the Olympics proceed, it is inevitable that more terrorist plots, real, imagined or fabricated, will be ‘foiled' by the Chinese authorities. These will be used as pretexts to further oppress a people about whom the rest of the world knows virtually nothing. It is our responsibility to publicize the plight of of the Uighirs so that the sight of Chinese authorities putting down demonstrators holding “Free East Turkestan” placards will provoke the international moral outrage at present reserved for pro-Tibet activists. __
