Demonstration leads to deaths of Uyghur Muslims in China

[DefendingIslam]

Salam Alaykum,

Depressing news reports about the Atheist Chinese government and their crackdown on Uyghur Muslim protesters:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/as...242376417.html

China blames exiles for Uighur riot

China's government has blamed Uighur exiles for inciting a riot in the country's western Xinjiang region that it says left more than 100 people dead.

The official Xinhua news agency said the deaths came in the city of Urumqi on Sunday after a protest against the government's handling of an industrial dispute turned violent.

Xinhua said rioters burned and smashed vehicles, and fought with police, while state broadcaster CCTV showed footage of people throwing rocks at police and overturning a police car.

Xinhua had reported earlier that four people died in the clashes, including one police officer.

But follow-up reports put the number at 129.

Uighur exile groups have said they believe some Uighurs may also have died in the clashes, while dozens are thought to have been arrested as police cracked down on those they believe were behind the protests.

Xinhua said the situation in the city was "under control" on Monday, with police reported to be out in force.

One local resident contacted by the Reuters news agency said Urumqi, situated 3,200km west of Beijing, was "basically under martial law".

Xinhua said local officials had ordered traffic off the streets in parts of the city to ensure there was no fresh unrest.

"The facts demonstrate this was controlled and instigated from abroad," an unnamed official said of the riot, according to Xinhua.

The report also said the "unrest was masterminded by the World Uighur Congress" led by Rebiya Kadeer, a Uighur businesswoman who was jailed for years in China before being released into exile in the US.

"This was a crime of violence that was pre-meditated and organised," Xinhua said.

'Pent-up anger'

China has blamed ethnic separatists and Muslim extremists for stoking unrest in Xinjiang over the past decade.

But critics of Beijing say many Uighurs are angry at what they see as the growing dominance in the region of Han Chinese – China's main ethnic group.

Uighur exile groups have adamantly rejected the Chinese government claim of a plot, saying Sunday's riot was an outpouring of pent-up anger over government policies.

"They're blaming us as a way to distract the Uighurs' attention from the discrimination and oppression that sparked this protest," Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the World Uighur Congress in Sweden, told Reuters.

"It began as a peaceful assembly. There were thousands of people shouting to stop ethnic discrimination, demanding an explanation... They are tired of suffering in silence."

In the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, Xinjiang was hit by several deadly attacks the authorities said were the work of "terrorists".

But human rights groups and Uighur activists say China exaggerates the threat to justify harsh controls restricting peaceful political demands.

[Habib1968]

Salam alaikoum ,

I wanted to post something about the situation of our brothers and sisters in China who are suffering and who are be killed and put in Prison , I saw then your post .
I am also sad that you didn't get any awnser . If this would happend in Palestina or some other places there would be threads and awnsers without a boubt .

It is not the first time that this happend (this violence) , I am very admirative to see our brothers and sisters there who are struggeling to keep their faith ; China is trying since so a long to erradicate Islam from the country . I had the opportunity to meet some of them and I must say that they are very humble poeple Masha'Allah .


May Allah help them , preserve and protect them .


Wa salam

[umar_italy]

If this would happend in Palestina or some other places there would be threads and awnsers without a boubt .

I always think the same.

Arab nationalism filtered in our Ummah, so we only concern about Palestine, and don't care almost anything about other countries where Muslim brothers live, whom blood is as holy as the one of Palestinians.

Oh, yeah, but they are not Arabs..

[meelash]

If this would happend in Palestina or some other places there would be threads and awnsers without a doubt.

I always think the same.

Arab nationalism filtered in our Ummah, so we only concern about Palestine, and don't care almost anything about other countries where Muslim brothers live, whom blood is as holy as the one of Palestinians.

Oh, yeah, but they are not Arabs..

Let's try not to think this way. It's possible some people feel this way, but saying such things will just lead to ill-feeling with no purpose. We definitely as Muslims care a lot about Baitul Maqdis and the plight of the Palestinians, but also about the Muslims suffering in places that don't get on the news, like Xinjiang, Chechnya, even France.

I think the discrepancy in the amount of attention maybe has to do with the relatively worse conditions the Palestinians have been in and the fact that the non-Muslim controlled media spends more time on their pet project of Israel, rather than any racism, subconscious or otherwise, on the part of most Muslims.

Actually, conditions in Kashmir are very bad as well, forced apartheid, colonization by Hindu settlers, etc., and that hardly gets any mention because the media we all follow ignores it. It's not like that fight has just disappeared it is going on every day.

[meelash]

On the subject of the thread,

ameen to the brother's du'aa. May Allah either make our brothers and sisters a means of guidance for that oppressive government, or else break that country against the rock of their imaan as we saw just recently in the USSR and quickly change these conditions to those of safety and well-being.

Subhanallah, I heard one 'aalim who was discussing the huffaaz of the Qur'aan that came out of the former Soviet republics who memorized the entire Qur'aan by their mothers coming at night and whispering it to them at the bedside, because they were not allowed to read it openly! How foolish that some regimes think they can suppress that kind of imaan!

[umar_italy]

Let's try not to think this way. It's possible some people feel this way, but saying such things will just lead to ill-feeling with no purpose. We definitely as Muslims care a lot about Baitul Maqdis and the plight of the Palestinians, but also about the Muslims suffering in places that don't get on the news, like Xinjiang, Chechnya, even France.

I think the discrepancy in the amount of attention maybe has to do with the relatively worse conditions the Palestinians have been in and the fact that the non-Muslim controlled media spends more time on their pet project of Israel, rather than any racism, subconscious or otherwise, on the part of most Muslims.

Actually, conditions in Kashmir are very bad as well, forced apartheid, colonization by Hindu settlers, etc., and that hardly gets any mention because the media we all follow ignores it. It's not like that fight has just disappeared it is going on every day.

I can talk about the view of many Arabs (not ALL of them, obviously), who are seduced by the nationalist panarabist propaganda, and keep appealing to the "Arab-islamic" world and view the Palestinian "cause" as an "Arab-Islamic" one.

To most of them, what happens in Afghanistan, Chechen, East Turkestan, Philippines and Somalia is on a "second plane", and rallies, protests, flags are all and only for Palestine, Palestine, Palestine...

When a news breaks out from those "far places" of Ajam, the reaction is a mix of sadness, surprise for the existance of those "non-Arab Muslims" (how come?!), and soon, indifference prevails.
This is going to be a bit exaggerated, but I hope to have made my point.

And obviously that's not so for ALL Arab brothers; but for the ignorant not-practising masses.

Also Arab regimes use the "Palestinan cause" as a "safety valve" for the popular discontent, but the worse massacres on Palestinian people have been carried out by the repression from Arab nations.

Slogan and rhetoric, but they - as nations - didn't move a finger to help Palestinians.

[JerryL]

Why does this thread gloss over all the non-Muslims killed in these demonstration? Why does it gloss over that many of those killed were killed *by* the Chinese Muslims?

This is violence-between-groups: not some "China-vs-Islam" apocalypse.

I can talk about the view of many Arabs (not ALL of them, obviously), who are seduced by the nationalist panarabist propaganda, and keep appealing to the "Arab-islamic" world and view the Palestinian "cause" as an "Arab-Islamic" one.

But that's obvious. I'm sure there are plenty of Chinese Muslims who care equally little for what Muslims in Africa are doing.

The thing is: it's just another "us-vs-them" with rhetorical slogans of religious oppression thrown over it. I would be shocked to see a general consensus towards siding with right behavior rather than the party identified as "us".

[meelash]

Actually, I think you're speaking without prior experience of the situation in China. The emotions we are expressing are not just knee-jerk reaction to news articles like you saw in the US around the Iranian elections. Rather, Muslims have had an awareness of the situation for Muslims in Communist China for many years. This is not a one-off incident, it is a continuation of policies that have aimed to suppress and repress the Muslim population and this event just happened to have gotten into the news. In fact, we have people from our local community that have gone to visit the Chinese muslim community and offer them our moral support and find out more about their situation for years now.

Why does this thread gloss over all the non-Muslims killed in these demonstration? Why does it gloss over that many of those killed were killed *by* the Chinese Muslims?

Because, I think it is very clear who is the party in power and who is being oppressed here.

This is violence-between-groups: not some "China-vs-Islam" apocalypse.

Actually, this is factually incorrect. The Chinese government has had a policy of settling large numbers of non-Muslims in these areas in an attempt to dilute the Muslim majority, much as India has been doing in Kashmir. This is what has led to these tensions, plus the ethnic discrimination shown against these people.

There have also been many other forms of religious coercion and prevention of practice by Muslims, just as there were in communist russia.

But that's obvious. I'm sure there are plenty of Chinese Muslims who care equally little for what Muslims in Africa are doing.

Do you have any evidence for this, anecdotal or statistical? I don't know a single muslim who would agree with this. Our Prophet stated that the muslim community is one body and if one part of the body is hurting the whole rest of the body will feel it. To the best of our ability, and keeping in mind our great weakness of faith, we try to uphold this ideal. Even if we may not be DOING anything, unfortunately, we definitely consider all of our brothers around the world as worthy of our care and attention.

The thing is: it's just another "us-vs-them" with rhetorical slogans of religious oppression thrown over it. I would be shocked to see a general consensus towards siding with right behavior rather than the party identified as "us".

You are speaking in very vague and general terms here, so I'm not sure how to respond. There are many non-Muslims also who have expressed distaste with the way the muslims of china are being treated. Obviously, I can't speak for general consensus, but I'm not sure what you're getting at, anyway.

[TripolySunni]

I always think the same.

Arab nationalism filtered in our Ummah, so we only concern about Palestine, and don't care almost anything about other countries where Muslim brothers live, whom blood is as holy as the one of Palestinians.

Oh, yeah, but they are not Arabs..

I went into the website of the leading Arab Nationalist mvmnt "Indepandant Nasserists" and the first thing I read on thier page was "free the uyghur Muslims from the HAN".

Anyway I heard from a Japanese friend that china's regime has killed around 35+ Million Chinese muslims over the years.

[sudoku]

Our Prophet stated that the muslim community is one body and if one part of the body is hurting the whole rest of the body will feel it. To the best of our ability, and keeping in mind our great weakness of faith, we try to uphold this ideal. Even if we may not be DOING anything, unfortunately, we definitely consider all of our brothers around the world as worthy of our care and attention..