World goes deaf and mute on Uyghur muslims Human Rights violations

Figures and facts about Uighur Muslims being ethnically cleansed in Xinjiang autonomous area of China are horrific that one could not control the agitation.

Reports and on ground investigated  stories by journalists from west had exposed little about concentration camps by China  were they tried to transform Uighurs Muslim.

Reports suggest thousands of Masjids have been demolished in Xinjiang. There have also been bans on Islamic clothing including veils and beards. A specific targeting of Islamic clerics along with bans on fasting during Ramadan for government workers and anyone under the age of 18.

Due to little national interest Western countries occasionally raise the issue of Uighur Muslim genocide by China.

For Muslims countries around the globe,  it is kind of blasphemy to say a word against China. None has ever championed the cause of Uighur Muslims as they fear that God father may get angry.

Talking in solidarity is a gone game but even giving refugee to Uighurs in thier respective lands is also considered going against China.

Muslim nations have been deporting back these Uighurs to China and citing that they have their right to fight against extremists or terrorism.

According to a report published by  Time magazine, at least 1,327 individuals have been detained or deported from 20 countries worldwide since 2014 most of them from Muslim nations.

Saudi Arabia, UAE , Egypt all of them have arrested many and deported them back.

Abduweli Ayup, a Uyghur activist based in Oslo,l  had told  CNN in a report in 2021 that he had documented and confirmed at least 28 Uyghur deportations from three Muslim-majority countries between 2017 and 2019: 21 from Egypt, five from Saudi Arabia, and two, from the UAE.

Even Uighur Muslim refugees who went for pilgrimage to Mecca had disappeared and reports suggest that Saudi authorities hand over them to Chinese authorities.

Country like Turkey which had remained safe asylum for Uighur Muslims have also become shifted sand now.

Turkey’s President Recap Tayab Eardagon initially was lone muslim leader who would champion the cause of Uighurs. The boosting relations between Sino-Turks have  tonned down the Erdagon’s criticism.They have also repatriate Uighurs back to China though Uighur have descents from Turks.

Pakistan a close ally of China is not an exception when it comes to extradite Uighur Muslims from Pakistan. The deafening silence of Pakistan is only because of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is important part of One Belt One Road (OBOR). Pakistan is passing through hard times from last half a decade and China is considered its economic lifeline. Imran Khan, during his tenure as Prime Minister of the country had been asked about the Uighur Muslim atrocities by international media outlets but he denied and called it unjust and unfair allegations.

Zumretay Arkin’s family was among those that managed to escape from Xinjiang. Arkin is now the program and advocacy manager for the World Uyghur Congress (WUC). In one of her interview with The Diplomat in 2021 she revealed that while Pakistan was an escape route of choice for many Uyghurs, but today many members of the community who have been in Pakistan for decades fear for their future.

“We share a border with Pakistan, which is also an Islamic country. It was easier for us to find refuge there decades ago,” Arkin told this to The Diplomat. “But now Pakistan is deporting Uyghur Muslims, putting our lives at risk. Now Pakistani agencies are reporting directly to Chinese authorities in the ongoing crackdown.”

 Asper researchers and analysts there are cases of anti-Muslim actions being taken in the West as well – which is widely condemned by Muslim countries. But when you compare the magnitude of what is going on in China, there is really no comparison.

When it comes to India the world’s largest democratic country they too speak less on Uighur Muslims human rights.

Last year in month of October draft resolution on “holding a debate on the situation of human rights in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China,” presented by a core group consisting of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States in United Nations, was rejected in the 47-member council. New Delhi was one of the 11 abstentions, with no explanatory statement for its vote at the council.

The minister of external affairs of India, S Jaishankar, known for using his criticism against western democracies on several issues, has carefully avoided declaring India’s position on the Uyghurs. To a question posed abroad last year by Journalist, he said, “I don’t know if you are going to get a perspective from me as I have enough issues with China as it is. I would rather focus on the issues that are already on my plate.”

The Ukraine war has catched all the eyes from world and most of the nations are openly criticising the Russian invasion. But the silence over the China’s ethnic cleansing of Uighur Muslims is dark blot for all be it Muslim or non-muslim nations.

( Views expressed in this article are personal )