Muslim Bortherhood and Fraternity
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Mehreen1221
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Muslim Bortherhood and Fraternity
What do you think Muslim Bortherhood and Fraternity means?
MHI during one of his visits to Syria beautifully expressed the meaning of botherhood and fraternity:
“It is thus clearly evident,” said the Aga Khan, “that peace in the decades ahead can only be achieved when the pluralist nature of human society is understood, valued, and built upon, to construct a better future. In Islam, the pluralism of human society is well recognised, and the ethics of its multiple interpretations require that this diversity be accorded respect.”
The Aga Khan reminded his audience that “the shahada (the Muslim profession of faith), La-illaha-Illallah-Muhammadur-Rasullilah – binds a thousand million people who, over the centuries, have come to live in different cultures, speak different languages, live in different political contexts, and who differentiate in some interpretations of their faith.”
“The plurality of the Muslim world” he stressed, “is not just an irreversible historical fact, but it is a strength for which we must be grateful, and a strength that must be continuously harnessed to the building of the future within the ethics of Islam.”
“Any differences must be resolved through tolerance, through understanding, through compassion, through dialogue, through forgiveness, through generosity, all of which represent the ethics of Islam.”
Noting with “deep happiness and admiration that here in Syria the principles of tolerance, brotherhood, and mutual support amongst communities are already well established,” the Aga Khan said, “perhaps more could be done, in particular, by greater and strengthened collaboration in identifying and analysing social and economic challenges that lie ahead, and in determining how best to anticipate and respond to them.”
http://www.amaana.org/agakhan/syria2.htm
“It is thus clearly evident,” said the Aga Khan, “that peace in the decades ahead can only be achieved when the pluralist nature of human society is understood, valued, and built upon, to construct a better future. In Islam, the pluralism of human society is well recognised, and the ethics of its multiple interpretations require that this diversity be accorded respect.”
The Aga Khan reminded his audience that “the shahada (the Muslim profession of faith), La-illaha-Illallah-Muhammadur-Rasullilah – binds a thousand million people who, over the centuries, have come to live in different cultures, speak different languages, live in different political contexts, and who differentiate in some interpretations of their faith.”
“The plurality of the Muslim world” he stressed, “is not just an irreversible historical fact, but it is a strength for which we must be grateful, and a strength that must be continuously harnessed to the building of the future within the ethics of Islam.”
“Any differences must be resolved through tolerance, through understanding, through compassion, through dialogue, through forgiveness, through generosity, all of which represent the ethics of Islam.”
Noting with “deep happiness and admiration that here in Syria the principles of tolerance, brotherhood, and mutual support amongst communities are already well established,” the Aga Khan said, “perhaps more could be done, in particular, by greater and strengthened collaboration in identifying and analysing social and economic challenges that lie ahead, and in determining how best to anticipate and respond to them.”
http://www.amaana.org/agakhan/syria2.htm
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Mehreen1221
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Re: Muslim Bortherhood and Fraternity
Doesn't exist - never has and never will. This so-called Muslim Brotherhood/Ummah is blighted by racism and sectarianism. I used to believe in the myth of Muslim Brotherhood/Ummah. But, from my own experiences, looking at contemporary events and learning about history, it just isn't there - not in the past, not in the present nor in the future. Muslims hate other Muslims because they are either of a different race and/or sect. This applies to people from 'Sunni', 'Twelver' and Ismaili backgrounds. Simple as that.Mehreen1221 wrote:What do you think Muslim Bortherhood and Fraternity means?
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Mehreen1221
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baqi,
Muslim Ummah and Muslim Brotherhood are two different things... Ummah means "Community" and Muslim Ummah does exist...however one describes it...the Muslim people are physically there. Whether they hate each other and have all kinds of issues and problems, that's another matter.
And Muslim Brotherhood is the idea that was introduced by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the early days of Islam and particularly after the Hijra from Mecca to Medina and afterwards...since then that idea is known to be the striving force that should be working within the Ummah for greater betterment of the Muslims...again how much successful that has been or not is another matter... but the Idea was valid then and hopefully will be so in years ahead....
I think, it depends on individual's perspective on what he/she thinks of the idea of Muslim Brotherhood and Fraternity. it can be viewed and evaluated at personal or family level to the organizational or national level and up to the global stage. Though, today, it may seem like the idea is pretty much dead or injured significantly if you look at the global or national levels and sometimes that could also be the case at personal level as it depends on every individuals personal relationships with others and so forth...but the most ideals, specially Muslim Brotherhood would not die out completely... it just have to be revived and nurtured constantly by the Ummah....from the personal level to the global level.
Muslim Ummah and Muslim Brotherhood are two different things... Ummah means "Community" and Muslim Ummah does exist...however one describes it...the Muslim people are physically there. Whether they hate each other and have all kinds of issues and problems, that's another matter.
And Muslim Brotherhood is the idea that was introduced by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the early days of Islam and particularly after the Hijra from Mecca to Medina and afterwards...since then that idea is known to be the striving force that should be working within the Ummah for greater betterment of the Muslims...again how much successful that has been or not is another matter... but the Idea was valid then and hopefully will be so in years ahead....
I think, it depends on individual's perspective on what he/she thinks of the idea of Muslim Brotherhood and Fraternity. it can be viewed and evaluated at personal or family level to the organizational or national level and up to the global stage. Though, today, it may seem like the idea is pretty much dead or injured significantly if you look at the global or national levels and sometimes that could also be the case at personal level as it depends on every individuals personal relationships with others and so forth...but the most ideals, specially Muslim Brotherhood would not die out completely... it just have to be revived and nurtured constantly by the Ummah....from the personal level to the global level.
Last edited by Mehreen1221 on Sat Dec 27, 2008 3:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I think there are a number of initiatives that are taking place on an ongoing basis in the Muslim Ummah to revive and foster unity. Below is an excerpt of Hazar Imam's speech delivered to the Amman Islamic Conference.
"I applaud Jordan, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah, for the foresight in hosting and organising this International Islamic Conference for the purpose of fostering unity in the Ummah and promoting the good reputation of our faith of Islam. Let this Conference be part of a continuous process of dialogue in the true spirit of Muslim brotherhood so that the entire wealth of our pluralist heritage bears fruit for the Muslim world, and indeed the whole of humanity; for ours is the heritage which premiates human dignity, transcending bounds of creed, ethnicity, language, gender or nationality. "
http://ismaili.net/timeline/2005/20050704iss.html
"I applaud Jordan, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah, for the foresight in hosting and organising this International Islamic Conference for the purpose of fostering unity in the Ummah and promoting the good reputation of our faith of Islam. Let this Conference be part of a continuous process of dialogue in the true spirit of Muslim brotherhood so that the entire wealth of our pluralist heritage bears fruit for the Muslim world, and indeed the whole of humanity; for ours is the heritage which premiates human dignity, transcending bounds of creed, ethnicity, language, gender or nationality. "
http://ismaili.net/timeline/2005/20050704iss.html
Jordan: Serious Violations of Workers' Rightskmaherali wrote:I think there are a number of initiatives that are taking place on an ongoing basis in the Muslim Ummah to revive and foster unity. Below is an excerpt of Hazar Imam's speech delivered to the Amman Islamic Conference.
"I applaud Jordan, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah, for the foresight in hosting and organising this International Islamic Conference for the purpose of fostering unity in the Ummah and promoting the good reputation of our faith of Islam. Let this Conference be part of a continuous process of dialogue in the true spirit of Muslim brotherhood so that the entire wealth of our pluralist heritage bears fruit for the Muslim world, and indeed the whole of humanity; for ours is the heritage which premiates human dignity, transcending bounds of creed, ethnicity, language, gender or nationality. "
http://ismaili.net/timeline/2005/20050704iss.html
Thursday, 13 November 2008
"Violations of trade union rights and discrimination against migrant workers must be addressed in Jordan, according to a new ITUC report on core labour standards.
The report, which coincides with the Trade Policy Review of Jordan at
the WTO, notes that many workers continue to be denied the right to
organise, particularly public sector employees, civil servants, migrant
workers, domestic workers, and agricultural workers.
The ITUC report particularly criticises the lack of substantial progress
on workers' rights and working conditions in the export processing zones
in Jordan, called qualified industrial zones (QIZs). Mistreatment is
common practice, including long working hours without payment of
overtime, abusive conditions and violations of workers' rights. Many
workers in QIZs are migrant workers who are excluded from protections in the labour law and do not have the right to organise.
Abuses against many Asian women who migrate to work as domestic workers in Jordan persist. They are subject to forced conditions of work,
withholding of passports, restrictions on movement, abusive treatment,
non-payment of wages, threats and physical or sexual abuse, long working hours, and high deductions for food and shelter.
The report also refers to issues related to child labour, discrimination
and forced labour. It notes that child labour is prevalent in Jordan,
including in informal work in agriculture and domestic work in addition
to a growing number of street children. Rights of working children are
violated as 70% of them earn less than the minimum wage and almost half work more than nine hours per day. While forced labour exists in the
Qualified Industrial Zones and among migrant workers in domestic work,
agriculture and construction, the report states that trafficking of
people for forced labour is a major issue. Discrimination in employment
and remuneration is prohibited but according to the report there are
legal shortcomings and in practice women have less access to employment and receive lower wages due to occupational segregation.
In its conclusions the report strongly recommends the putting in place
of implementation mechanisms for the right to organise and collective
bargaining as well as increased labour inspection in all areas. It
stresses the need to introduce adequate penalties in cases of
violations. The report urges increased protection for children and more
urgent measures to address the instances of forced labour in domestic
work and agriculture and the trafficking of people for the purpose of
forced labour. It calls upon the government to increase efforts and
measures, including legislative changes, in line with ILO standards, in
order to reduce wage and occupational inequalities. Finally, the report
calls for urgent and effective measures to regulate recruitment agencies
for domestic migrant labour and to stop abuses"
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/print.ht ... S00192.htm
Jordan - another racist Arab country that stands a shining example of ummatic unity ... lol
I think you have to evaluate each country's governance in relative terms and not in absolute terms. Each country has its own set of issues to deal with. You should also keep in mind that the entire Middle East is under a severe strain due to the influx of the Iraqi refugees. I think Jordan is much more politically and economically stable than many of its Arab neighbours.baqi wrote:Jordan - another racist Arab country that stands a shining example of ummatic unity ... lol
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Mehreen1221
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I am thinking that this thread can easily be converted from it's original point and theme to a political and nationalist debate with all kinds of prejudices, biases and propaganda ..since, and it is my prejudice, that most people, if not all, could be inclined or interested in the later one due to time we are in with the sensational media news and events…than the principles and idealism particularly that demands sacrifices, compromises and other greater virtues.
The concept of Imamat is not easy to understand. We Ismailis who have been born and brought up with this idea and are constantly being reinforced, so we have the understanding. For the rest of the Muslims it is very difficult to appreciate hence everyone did not, do not and will not understand it.mazharshah wrote:You are right muslims are good at killing each other and are not recognizing their true enemies. I believe iron cuts iron. I wished Prophet should have clearly settled the issue in his life time who will lead the ummah after him. He should have clearly mentioned the name and had baiyat in Mecca and Madina in his presence.
It took forty years for the Prophet to convince mankind that he was indeed the Prophet. To add the dimension of hereditory Imamat to it would take ages! Hence we have plurality which according to the message of the Imam in the thread is irreversible and is a strength of Muslim Umma.
Islam was revealed to mankind at large with varying capacity of understanding. Even within our tariqah there are diversity of views.
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swamidada_2
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How Turkey is sending Muslim Uighurs back to China without breaking its promise
Gareth Browne
The TelegraphJuly 25, 2020, 10:52 AM
She was chatting to her son, when the phone call was suddenly interrupted. And that was the last anyone heard from Aimuzi Kuwanhan, a 59-year-old mother of two and a Uighur Muslim who had managed to flee China and make it to what she thought was a safe haven in Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey.
Originally from Kashgar in Xinjiang, China - once a stop on the Silk Road - Kuwanhan found refuge in Turkey from a suffocating campaign of repression against China’s Uighurs. But China, it seems, came looking for her, and, one year on, no one can even say if she is alive.
The widow’s family believes she has been extradited to an unknown fate in China, via Tajikistan. Like hundreds more, she is a victim, they believe, of big business colliding with human rights, another human sacrifice to keep Beijing’s investment rolling into Turkey.
No wonder, then, an increasing number of Uighurs in Turkey are fearful of China’s reach. Ismael Cengiz, a prominent activist known as the Uighurs’ symbolic Prime Minister, says: “There are threats, and they are systematic. They want us to think they can get us anywhere.”
Turkey has, it has been proud to say, been good for the Uighurs. An estimated 50,000 of them are refugees here, and they have flourished under Erdogan, who in recent years has cast himself as a protector of Muslims across the world.
In the Istanbul neighbourhood of Zeytinburnu, their culture has thrived. Uighur poetry is published; shops throughout the district sell elaborate Uighur garments; and restaurants serve the spicy noodle dishes that remind so many of home.
Turkey has also provided them a platform to tell the world of what they say is the genocide being perpetrated against China’s Muslims, with 1.5 million Uighurs held in concentration camps across the country. So far, so good.
Now lawyers say Beijing is manipulating extradition agreements to drag Uighurs back to the re-education camps. And, activists argue, Ankara’s growing economic dependence on Beijing is compromising its ability to withstand Chinese pressure and to protect Uiyghurs who have fled Xinjiang.
While Turkey refuses to send Uighurs directly back to China, campaigners say there are those willing to send them to third countries, like Tajikistan. From there, it is easier for China to secure their extradition.
So why would Turks be complicit in this? Money, comes the answer, and ensuring Chinese investment in Turkey continues.
Kuwanhan, believed to be suffering from dementia, suddenly vanished from the state housing she lived in last summer. She surfaced two weeks later with a phone call from a detention centre in Izmir.
Turkish authorities deny Kuwanhan was detained in Izmir deportation centre. But phone call records prove she made multiple phone calls from a fixed-line within the centre to her family.
After several weeks, Kuwanhan - her passport photograph showed a woman smiling shyly and wearing a headscarf - was told she had been cleared for release, the family says. But, in the middle of the call to her son, a guard yelled at her to hang up the phone. She has not been heard from since.
A lawyer hired by her family subsequently discovered that she had been extradited to Tajikistan, despite having never lived there or having held Tajik citizenship. Sources who knew Kuwanhan say from there she was sent to China.
She was no activist. Those who knew her said that after arriving in Turkey she tried to live a quiet life. In 2012, though, one of her sons was sentenced to 14 years in prison in China for learning the Quran.
Her case mirrors that of Zinnetgul Tursun, another Uighur woman deported to Tajikistan last year with her infant daughters. They too had no links to Tajikistan, and, after arriving, they were sent to China.
A convulsing economy and friction with Europe have forced Turkey to invest in other friendships, in particular China. As a key part of Beijing's Belt & Road investment strategy, Chinese corporations have invested billions in developing Turkish infrastructure, and Beijing aims to double investments to more than $6 billion by the end of next year.
This cosying of relations and Ankara’s increasing dependence on Beijing’s investment has come at a cost for Uighurs. As Cengiz says: “There is so much money at stake, our cause is only second to that.”
Though publicly supportive of the Uighur plight, Ankara is hamstrung by bilateral agreements with China’s Justice ministry. They oblige the Turkish authorities to investigate complaints raised by China against individuals.
Turkey is also keen to improve its international standing on how it deals with terrorists amid claims it was soft on foreign jihadists travelling to Syria in the early years of the Syrian Civil War. Beijing stands accused of playing on that.
The Sunday Telegraph was shown Chinese intelligence documents submitted by China’s Public Security Ministry as part of extradition requests proclaiming the targets to be terrorist suspects. While several hundred Uighurs did travel to Syria to join Uighur jihadist groups, the applications focus instead simply on Uighur identity.
Scores of Uighurs have spent months in detention and deportation centres across Turkey without charge as the result of Chinese judicial demands. Though Turkey has a policy of not deporting Uighurs to China, where they would likely face detention or death, The Sunday Telegraph has uncovered evidence that China has succeeded in getting Uighurs deported to third countries. They are then believed to be sent on to China.
Ibrahim Ergin, a lawyer who specialises in deportation cases, said: “No Uighurs will be extradited directly to China. I don’t think this will change any time soon. So they [China] try to make their lives as miserable as they can, and get them sent to other countries where possible. As China and Turkey’s relations have got better, it’s the Uighurs who have lost.”
Ergin claimed that intelligence briefings sent as part of extradition requests often feature fabricated testimonies. One was based on five testimonies, but three of the alleged witnesses had been executed in Chinese camps, he said.
He described how the Turkish government is being drowned by extradition demands, arrest warrants, and judicial requests from China. Some come directly from Beijing, others through Interpol, and he suspects others are issued by third countries on behalf of China.
Ergin said: “I have a list of 200 Uighur academics in Turkey. In one way or another, China is making demands on all 200 of them.”
But there is more. Ilsan Aniwar, wearing a blue medical face mask bearing the slogan ‘Free Uighurs’, is a key figure in the Uighur community, thanks to his online videos on East Turkestan - the Uighur name for Xinjiang. He claims Beijing is now putting pressure on the Turkish authorities to stifle activism on the concentration camps in China. And he believes there are spies within the camp.
Aniwar said: “There are people working for China inside our community. We used to campaign and raise awareness outside all the big mosques, and fly [Uighur] flags at all the public events. They don’t let us anymore.”
Aniwar’s activism has seen him arrested several times over the last year. He told The Sunday Telegraph that in his most recent period of detention guards attempted to trick him into signing a voluntary deportation request.
He, like all the activists with whom The Sunday Telegraph spoke, are guarded about Turkey. As Ismail Cengiz says, “It’s not in our interest to pick a fight with the Turkish state. They have been very good to us. When nobody else was listening, they took us in.”
The Sunday Telegraph approached a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson for comment but received no reply. Turkey has previously vehemently denied deporting Uighurs to China.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/
Gareth Browne
The TelegraphJuly 25, 2020, 10:52 AM
She was chatting to her son, when the phone call was suddenly interrupted. And that was the last anyone heard from Aimuzi Kuwanhan, a 59-year-old mother of two and a Uighur Muslim who had managed to flee China and make it to what she thought was a safe haven in Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey.
Originally from Kashgar in Xinjiang, China - once a stop on the Silk Road - Kuwanhan found refuge in Turkey from a suffocating campaign of repression against China’s Uighurs. But China, it seems, came looking for her, and, one year on, no one can even say if she is alive.
The widow’s family believes she has been extradited to an unknown fate in China, via Tajikistan. Like hundreds more, she is a victim, they believe, of big business colliding with human rights, another human sacrifice to keep Beijing’s investment rolling into Turkey.
No wonder, then, an increasing number of Uighurs in Turkey are fearful of China’s reach. Ismael Cengiz, a prominent activist known as the Uighurs’ symbolic Prime Minister, says: “There are threats, and they are systematic. They want us to think they can get us anywhere.”
Turkey has, it has been proud to say, been good for the Uighurs. An estimated 50,000 of them are refugees here, and they have flourished under Erdogan, who in recent years has cast himself as a protector of Muslims across the world.
In the Istanbul neighbourhood of Zeytinburnu, their culture has thrived. Uighur poetry is published; shops throughout the district sell elaborate Uighur garments; and restaurants serve the spicy noodle dishes that remind so many of home.
Turkey has also provided them a platform to tell the world of what they say is the genocide being perpetrated against China’s Muslims, with 1.5 million Uighurs held in concentration camps across the country. So far, so good.
Now lawyers say Beijing is manipulating extradition agreements to drag Uighurs back to the re-education camps. And, activists argue, Ankara’s growing economic dependence on Beijing is compromising its ability to withstand Chinese pressure and to protect Uiyghurs who have fled Xinjiang.
While Turkey refuses to send Uighurs directly back to China, campaigners say there are those willing to send them to third countries, like Tajikistan. From there, it is easier for China to secure their extradition.
So why would Turks be complicit in this? Money, comes the answer, and ensuring Chinese investment in Turkey continues.
Kuwanhan, believed to be suffering from dementia, suddenly vanished from the state housing she lived in last summer. She surfaced two weeks later with a phone call from a detention centre in Izmir.
Turkish authorities deny Kuwanhan was detained in Izmir deportation centre. But phone call records prove she made multiple phone calls from a fixed-line within the centre to her family.
After several weeks, Kuwanhan - her passport photograph showed a woman smiling shyly and wearing a headscarf - was told she had been cleared for release, the family says. But, in the middle of the call to her son, a guard yelled at her to hang up the phone. She has not been heard from since.
A lawyer hired by her family subsequently discovered that she had been extradited to Tajikistan, despite having never lived there or having held Tajik citizenship. Sources who knew Kuwanhan say from there she was sent to China.
She was no activist. Those who knew her said that after arriving in Turkey she tried to live a quiet life. In 2012, though, one of her sons was sentenced to 14 years in prison in China for learning the Quran.
Her case mirrors that of Zinnetgul Tursun, another Uighur woman deported to Tajikistan last year with her infant daughters. They too had no links to Tajikistan, and, after arriving, they were sent to China.
A convulsing economy and friction with Europe have forced Turkey to invest in other friendships, in particular China. As a key part of Beijing's Belt & Road investment strategy, Chinese corporations have invested billions in developing Turkish infrastructure, and Beijing aims to double investments to more than $6 billion by the end of next year.
This cosying of relations and Ankara’s increasing dependence on Beijing’s investment has come at a cost for Uighurs. As Cengiz says: “There is so much money at stake, our cause is only second to that.”
Though publicly supportive of the Uighur plight, Ankara is hamstrung by bilateral agreements with China’s Justice ministry. They oblige the Turkish authorities to investigate complaints raised by China against individuals.
Turkey is also keen to improve its international standing on how it deals with terrorists amid claims it was soft on foreign jihadists travelling to Syria in the early years of the Syrian Civil War. Beijing stands accused of playing on that.
The Sunday Telegraph was shown Chinese intelligence documents submitted by China’s Public Security Ministry as part of extradition requests proclaiming the targets to be terrorist suspects. While several hundred Uighurs did travel to Syria to join Uighur jihadist groups, the applications focus instead simply on Uighur identity.
Scores of Uighurs have spent months in detention and deportation centres across Turkey without charge as the result of Chinese judicial demands. Though Turkey has a policy of not deporting Uighurs to China, where they would likely face detention or death, The Sunday Telegraph has uncovered evidence that China has succeeded in getting Uighurs deported to third countries. They are then believed to be sent on to China.
Ibrahim Ergin, a lawyer who specialises in deportation cases, said: “No Uighurs will be extradited directly to China. I don’t think this will change any time soon. So they [China] try to make their lives as miserable as they can, and get them sent to other countries where possible. As China and Turkey’s relations have got better, it’s the Uighurs who have lost.”
Ergin claimed that intelligence briefings sent as part of extradition requests often feature fabricated testimonies. One was based on five testimonies, but three of the alleged witnesses had been executed in Chinese camps, he said.
He described how the Turkish government is being drowned by extradition demands, arrest warrants, and judicial requests from China. Some come directly from Beijing, others through Interpol, and he suspects others are issued by third countries on behalf of China.
Ergin said: “I have a list of 200 Uighur academics in Turkey. In one way or another, China is making demands on all 200 of them.”
But there is more. Ilsan Aniwar, wearing a blue medical face mask bearing the slogan ‘Free Uighurs’, is a key figure in the Uighur community, thanks to his online videos on East Turkestan - the Uighur name for Xinjiang. He claims Beijing is now putting pressure on the Turkish authorities to stifle activism on the concentration camps in China. And he believes there are spies within the camp.
Aniwar said: “There are people working for China inside our community. We used to campaign and raise awareness outside all the big mosques, and fly [Uighur] flags at all the public events. They don’t let us anymore.”
Aniwar’s activism has seen him arrested several times over the last year. He told The Sunday Telegraph that in his most recent period of detention guards attempted to trick him into signing a voluntary deportation request.
He, like all the activists with whom The Sunday Telegraph spoke, are guarded about Turkey. As Ismail Cengiz says, “It’s not in our interest to pick a fight with the Turkish state. They have been very good to us. When nobody else was listening, they took us in.”
The Sunday Telegraph approached a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson for comment but received no reply. Turkey has previously vehemently denied deporting Uighurs to China.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/
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swamidada_2
- Posts: 297
- Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2019 8:18 pm
Silence won’t pay
Huma Yusuf 27 Jul 2020
THE drone footage showed hundreds of men, shaved, blindfolded, shackled. Western countries saw this as evidence of what is being termed as ‘genocide’ against Uighurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in China. For China and its allies, this was fake news, another example of Western hypocrisy.
Efforts to hold China to account for its treatment of Uighurs are gaining momentum. The US has imposed targeted sanctions against party officials implicated in rights abuses. The UK’s foreign secretary has accused China of “egregious” human rights abuses. France wants international observers to be permitted access to Xinjiang.
China is allegedly detaining between one and two million Uighurs and other minorities in ‘re-education’ camps. There are reports of torture and forced sterilisation of women. Uighurs are subject to constant surveillance and restrictions on their religious beliefs, cultural practices and movement. China denies allegations of rights abuses, instead arguing for the need to protect national security. It says the camps are vocational training centres established under a CT programme.
The timing of Western outrage against Uighur oppression — of which evidence has been mounting in recent years — will justifiably raise eyebrows. It is a barometer of the rapid deterioration of relationships between the US and its Western allies and China.
Pakistan has kept quiet on the Uighur crackdown.
This deterioration has less to do with human rights and more to do with China’s growing political and security assertiveness, most recently manifest in the imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong. The Uighur card is being deployed as tensions mount over trade deals, the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and cybersecurity concerns linked to Huawei’s capture of the global telecoms market and Chinese espionage.
Western countries want more targeted sanctions and increased pressure on international companies to ensure their supply chains are not exposed to China’s enforced labour programmes. The latter is no small ask. Take the fashion industry, for example: one in five cotton garments sold globally contains materials from Xinjiang. Given the challenges of assessing supply chains, corporations are likely to opt out of sourcing from China.
Pakistan will, of course, remain silent as this issue intensifies. This is not surprising; as Prime Minister Imran Khan has himself said, China has aided Pakistan when it has been at “rock bottom”, so Islamabad will not publicly shame Beijing on its Uighur track record (though he implied concerns may be raised privately).
A similar approach is likely across many Muslim-majority countries and others seeking investment under the Belt and Road Initiative. Pakistan in July last year was joined by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE among other Muslim countries to block a UN motion calling for international observers to visit Xinjiang.
But Pakistan’s refusal to publicly acknowledge the Uighur issue means that it must control public discourse on this topic too. This will increase the impetus for Pakistan’s censorship regime, already in overdrive. The establishment had already discouraged critique of CPEC; it will hardly exert much energy in maintaining an unspoken ban on raising Uighurs’ plight.
This is not to say that Pakistan’s growing culture of censorship is entirely attributable to increasing Chinese influence; the powers that be have long desired to control national narratives. But free speech opponents will be grateful for a patron that shares their disdain for dissent.
Silence on Uighurs will also cost Pakistan credibility on the Kashmir issue. Khan has previously argued that the scale of the two issues is different. But this argument will not be enough if Pakistan wants to be perceived as a genuine champion of Muslims’ and human rights when speaking on Kashmir. Given that the audience for pleas for Kashmiri rights is in the West, and not China, Pakistan will face pressure to be consistent.
There are also future security implications. We have previously aided China’s crackdown on Uighur separatists and terrorists, including by ensuring that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement could not establish bases in north-western Pakistan. If the Uighur situation worsens, there is potential for regional militant groups that are ideologically committed to protecting Muslims to further ally with the Uighur cause. Pakistan may then face retaliation.
More broadly, China’s growing tensions with the West herald what is being described as the next cold war, one defined by a fragmentation of global cyber infrastructure and supply chains, and marked by a divide between authoritarianism and populist democratic politics. As this polarisation deepens, Pakistan is on track to side with China.
Ironically, we are further along on this journey than we realise; there is no space to debate whether this is the best course for Pakistan.
The writer is a freelance journalist.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1571363/silence-wont-pay
Huma Yusuf 27 Jul 2020
THE drone footage showed hundreds of men, shaved, blindfolded, shackled. Western countries saw this as evidence of what is being termed as ‘genocide’ against Uighurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in China. For China and its allies, this was fake news, another example of Western hypocrisy.
Efforts to hold China to account for its treatment of Uighurs are gaining momentum. The US has imposed targeted sanctions against party officials implicated in rights abuses. The UK’s foreign secretary has accused China of “egregious” human rights abuses. France wants international observers to be permitted access to Xinjiang.
China is allegedly detaining between one and two million Uighurs and other minorities in ‘re-education’ camps. There are reports of torture and forced sterilisation of women. Uighurs are subject to constant surveillance and restrictions on their religious beliefs, cultural practices and movement. China denies allegations of rights abuses, instead arguing for the need to protect national security. It says the camps are vocational training centres established under a CT programme.
The timing of Western outrage against Uighur oppression — of which evidence has been mounting in recent years — will justifiably raise eyebrows. It is a barometer of the rapid deterioration of relationships between the US and its Western allies and China.
Pakistan has kept quiet on the Uighur crackdown.
This deterioration has less to do with human rights and more to do with China’s growing political and security assertiveness, most recently manifest in the imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong. The Uighur card is being deployed as tensions mount over trade deals, the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and cybersecurity concerns linked to Huawei’s capture of the global telecoms market and Chinese espionage.
Western countries want more targeted sanctions and increased pressure on international companies to ensure their supply chains are not exposed to China’s enforced labour programmes. The latter is no small ask. Take the fashion industry, for example: one in five cotton garments sold globally contains materials from Xinjiang. Given the challenges of assessing supply chains, corporations are likely to opt out of sourcing from China.
Pakistan will, of course, remain silent as this issue intensifies. This is not surprising; as Prime Minister Imran Khan has himself said, China has aided Pakistan when it has been at “rock bottom”, so Islamabad will not publicly shame Beijing on its Uighur track record (though he implied concerns may be raised privately).
A similar approach is likely across many Muslim-majority countries and others seeking investment under the Belt and Road Initiative. Pakistan in July last year was joined by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE among other Muslim countries to block a UN motion calling for international observers to visit Xinjiang.
But Pakistan’s refusal to publicly acknowledge the Uighur issue means that it must control public discourse on this topic too. This will increase the impetus for Pakistan’s censorship regime, already in overdrive. The establishment had already discouraged critique of CPEC; it will hardly exert much energy in maintaining an unspoken ban on raising Uighurs’ plight.
This is not to say that Pakistan’s growing culture of censorship is entirely attributable to increasing Chinese influence; the powers that be have long desired to control national narratives. But free speech opponents will be grateful for a patron that shares their disdain for dissent.
Silence on Uighurs will also cost Pakistan credibility on the Kashmir issue. Khan has previously argued that the scale of the two issues is different. But this argument will not be enough if Pakistan wants to be perceived as a genuine champion of Muslims’ and human rights when speaking on Kashmir. Given that the audience for pleas for Kashmiri rights is in the West, and not China, Pakistan will face pressure to be consistent.
There are also future security implications. We have previously aided China’s crackdown on Uighur separatists and terrorists, including by ensuring that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement could not establish bases in north-western Pakistan. If the Uighur situation worsens, there is potential for regional militant groups that are ideologically committed to protecting Muslims to further ally with the Uighur cause. Pakistan may then face retaliation.
More broadly, China’s growing tensions with the West herald what is being described as the next cold war, one defined by a fragmentation of global cyber infrastructure and supply chains, and marked by a divide between authoritarianism and populist democratic politics. As this polarisation deepens, Pakistan is on track to side with China.
Ironically, we are further along on this journey than we realise; there is no space to debate whether this is the best course for Pakistan.
The writer is a freelance journalist.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1571363/silence-wont-pay