AYJAZ WANI<\/a>\u00a015 November, 2019 2:59 pm IST <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chinese President Xi Jinping<\/a> in March 2017 gave instructions to security forces to erect a \u201cGreat Wall of Steel\u201d in Xinjiang to curb the centrifugal tendencies of Uyghur Muslims. Over the decades, China has been responding with increasing force to the perceived threat to its internal peace from the Uyghur Muslims. Millions have been put into re-education camps (concentration camps), where besides being tortured, many are also subject to illegal organ harvesting. This illegal organ harvesting has become a lucrative trade<\/a> in China as Chinese, as well as foreign patients, are promised organ matches within days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Uyghurs are the people of Turkic origin who inhabited Central Asia more than one-and-a-half millennia ago. Today they are mostly concentrated in Xinjiang, the westernmost province of the Peoples Republic of China. Uyghurs embraced Islam in the 8th<\/sup> century and were known for trade and commerce on the ancient Silk Road. Xinjiang, with its rich cultural and Islamic history, was called \u201cKichik Bukhara\u201d<\/em> or Little Bukhara<\/a> during the time of Muslim conquest of Central Asia. Through its fiercely contested history, the area was ruled by many dynasties and eventually came under Chinese control in 1878. It was renamed as Xinjiang (The New Province) by the Qing dynasty in 1884 AD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the establishment of the People\u2019s Republic of China in 1949, the communist government in Beijing exploited the region for its rich resources and facilitated mass migration of the Han population into Xinjiang. The Uyghurs were subjected to abject discrimination under China\u2019s policy of repression. Donald H. Mcmillen, records in his book \u2018Chinese Communist Power and Policy in Xinjiang, 1949-1977,\u2019 how Chairman Mao\u2019s wife, Jiang Qing<\/a>, considered them as \u201cforeign invaders and aliens\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Decades of severe economic exploitation, social discrimination and forceful destruction of religious ethos and traditional structures increased the centrifugal tendencies in Xinjiang, leading to anti-China agitations by the Uyghur Muslims in 1980, 1981, 1985 and 1987. These agitations gained momentum after the collapse of the Soviet Union and as the Taliban gained power in Afghanistan. Influenced by the development in Afghanistan and provoked by Pakistani mullahs, separatism in Xinjiang increased and demonstrations erupted in the cities of Urumchi, Kashgar, Khotan, Kucha, Aksu, and Artush. The tipping point for the Chinese was the Baren incident, where Uyghurs started a mass protest on 6 April 1990<\/a> to wage jihad against the Chinese and establish the East Turkestan state. The ensuing riots resulted in the deaths of six police officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the Strike Hard Campaign <\/a>(1996-2002) to curb the uprisings and religious activities in Xinjiang, China committed large-scale human rights violations, creating a global uproar<\/a>. Externally, the Chinese also started romancing<\/a> with the Afghanistan and Pakistan based terror groups to keep them from supporting their Muslim brethren and fomenting more trouble in Xinjiang. China even used its economic leverage to curb peaceful Uyghur activities in Central Asian republics that are home to more than 400,000<\/a> Uyghurs. At the same time, China pushed more and more Hans into Xinjiang through the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), which was specifically created for the exploitation of the rich hydrocarbon resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also read: <\/em><\/strong>After Uyghurs, another Muslim minority is under fire in China<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The increased pressure on the Uyghurs led to the revolt of 2009<\/a> in which more than 400 people were killed \u2013 the bloodiest unrest witnessed in China after the Tiananmen Square in 1989. More than 3,500 Uyghurs were arrested. According to the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), 700 Uyghurs<\/a> were killed between 2013-14 alone by Beijing through the process of \u201clegitimizing repression\u201d. The growing instances of violent police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic religious practice, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people spread, eventually caught the attention of international media and human rights groups. Such expos\u00e9 made Beijing worrisome. A report \u2018Bloody Harvest\/The Slaughter: An Update\u2019 published in 2016, reveals<\/a> that \u201cprisoners are subjected to blood tests and unusual medical examinations\u201d and their test results added to a \u201cdatabase of living sources of organs, enabling transplants on demand\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While ensuring security within Xinjiang is crucial for China\u2019s internal peace and stability, the region has also assumed great geostrategic importance. Xinjiang is critical for the success of China\u2019s much-hyped Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Four of the six mega BRI corridors \u2013 including the controversial and sensitive China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) \u2013 run through<\/a> southern Xinjiang, which is still dominated by Uyghur Muslims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2016 Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) or Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), listed as a terrorist organisation by the US treasury department in 2002, released an audio message<\/a> announcing that the outfit will wage war against the \u201cenemies of Islam.\u201d The highly-charged message urged the outfit\u2019s members engaged with the ISIS in Syria to be ready to return to China and fight in western Turkistan. Xinjiang\u2019s security thus has become a top priority for Beijing\u2019s long-term geostrategic and geopolitical interests under the BRI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China responded to such perceived threats by its \u201cGreat Wall of Steel\u201d policy. While southern Xinjiang has seen an unprecedented rise in the influx of the Hans from the mainland, more than two million people \u2013 including Uyghur Muslims and Kazakhs \u2013 have been sent to \u201cre-education camps<\/a>\u201d. In these detention centres, people are forced to pledge loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), learn Mandarin and denounce Islam and their culture<\/a>. A number of the imprisoned Uyghurs were sent to other parts of China for organ harvesting that was committed<\/a> on a large scale after the 2009 revolt. Simultaneously, to quell the concerns in the Muslim world, China used its economic clout through loans, concessions and at times even defended these Muslim rogue states on international forums to in turn buy their consent for the ethnic cleansing of Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also read: <\/strong>Islamic nations shamelessly silent while others condemn China\u2019s treatment of Uyghur Muslims<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, while the western world has come together to condemn China\u2019s actions in Xinjiang, Muslim countries have maintained a deafening silence. They have all but ignored the atrocities on the Uyghur Muslims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In July 2019, 22 western countries including Japan and the United Kingdom condemned China\u2019s actions in Xinjiang and wrote a joint letter<\/a> to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to act against the repressive policies. Beijing swiftly denied the allegations and defended the re-education camps as \u201cvocational training centres\u201d designed to fight terrorism and combat Islamic extremism. On the very next day, as if on cue, 37 countries \u2013 mainly comprising Muslims nations including Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan \u2013 issued a joint letter commending China\u2019s efforts in \u201cprotecting human and promoting human rights through development\u201d. The envoys of these countries wrote<\/a>, \u201cThe past three consecutive years has seen not a single terrorist attack in Xinjiang and people there enjoy a stronger sense of happiness, fulfilment and security\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Major Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, Malaysia and Iran toe the official line of Beijing. Prime Minister Imran Khan, in an interview<\/a> with Al Jazeera in September 2019, described China as Pakistan\u2019s \u201cbest friend\u201d and feigned ignorance about the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. \u201cFrankly do not know much about it,\u201d he said, brushing aside the question. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who is a staunch supporter of other Muslim minorities, reportedly said<\/a> in September 2019 that, \u201cIt is a fact that the peoples of China\u2019s Xinjiang region live happily in China\u2019s development and prosperity\u201d. Malaysian, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, too, said<\/a> in September 2019 that \u201cit is better to find some other less violent ways not to antagonise China too much because China is beneficial for us. Of course, it\u2019s (China) is a big trading partner of ours and you do not want to do something that will fail, and in the process, also, we will suffer.\u201d Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also endorsed Beijing\u2019s right to undertake \u201canti-terrorism\u201d and \u201cde-extremism\u201d measures. \u201cAt the moment we need to verify certain things of what they are accused of,\u201d he was quoted<\/a> as saying by state-owned CCTV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Backed by its diplomatic and economic might, Beijing has largely succeeded in convincing the Muslim countries to support its repressive policies in Xinjiang at global fora and Muslim countries have obliged. It was, therefore, hardly surprising when the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)<\/a> too made no reference to human rights violations in Xinjiang in its Abu Dhabi declaration earlier this year. But was indeed surprising that the OIC actually commended China\u2019s efforts in providing care to Muslim citizens. The silence of these Muslim countries against the Uyghur repression is alarming and shows how much they are dependent on Beijing for goodwill and support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The author is a Research Fellow at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Mumbai. He is currently working on the project: \u2018<\/em>Kashmir Conflict, Managing Perceptions and Prospectus for Peace.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This article was first published<\/a> on ORF.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n ThePrint is now on Telegram<\/a>. For the best reports & opinion on politics, governance and more, subscribe to ThePrint on Telegram<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Major Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, Malaysia and Iran toe the official line of Beijing. 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