Thursday, July 23, 2009

Plight of The Uyghurs

Dear readers,
In recent weeks there have been extensive reports of violent conflicts taking place in Xinjiang. The latest was the killing of 12 Muslim Uyghurs by the Chinese security forces ostensibly for rioting. However there are strong reasons to believe that many of the accounts provided by the Chinese government are inaccurate and untrue. According to some non-governmental sources the victims of the earlier riots were actually predominantly Muslim Uyghurs (more than 800) and not the Han Chinese as reported by the government. Moreover those Muslims who were injured were discriminated against when they tried to seek medical treatments at hospitals.
The main reason for the ongoing conflict in Xinjiang is the resistance by Muslims in Xinjiang towards decades-long attempts by the Chinese government to politically, economically and culturally weaken them. It is a known fact that Muslims in Xinjiang province have been discouraged from practicing their Muslim faith for fear of being discriminated against. These continuous and systematic acts of injustice and discrimination by the Chinese government towards the Uyghurs are the main cause of the violence in Xinjiang which is now spiraling out of control.
The Malaysian government should not be indifferent towards the plight of Muslims in Xinjiang province but should call upon the Chinese government to immediately end all unjust and discriminatory policies towards the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
On our part all of us should do as much as we can to highlight the plight of the Uygurs to relatives, friends and the general public. Hopefully over time as more people become aware of the situation in Xinjiang and express their sympathy for the Uyghurs, the Chinese government will change its policies there. The Prophet in one of his hadiths stated "Whoever does not care about the affair of Muslims is not from among them".

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