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CHINESE REPRESSION IN XINJIANG

Daily Pioneer

Xinjiang region of China today reflects an extreme manifestation of a new ‘Surveillance State’ by the all powerful regime of Xi Jinping. Interestingly, this comes with a high-handed combination of technology and a strong flavour of communism. Its aim is not only to prevent the wave of both global and local Islamic terror, but also to alter the distinct identity of the Uighur Muslims and indoctrinate them the sense of the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The State’s presence is so pervasive in and around the region that the locals fear the increasing level of punitive suppression might refashion the region’s identity sooner or later.

Xinjiang, conventionally known as the ‘Sinkiang’, is recorded as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in the official lexicon of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative unit in the country. Situated on the northwestern part of the country, its geographic location is critically strategic from both national and international point of view. It is bordering Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. As per 2010 census, the Uighurs constitute 46 per cent and the Han Chinese 40 per cent of the total population of Xinjiang. The rest are minority groups such as Kazakhs, Hui, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Mongols and Russians. Initially, the region was known as “Xiyu” meaning “Western Region” to the Chinese people long before its annexation to the mainland under the Qing dynasty in the 18th century. From then, the Western Region came to be known as “Xinjiang” or the “New Region” to the rest of China. However, the Westerners quite often use the name called “Chinese Turkistan” to distinguish the area from Russian Turkistan. The recent instances of growing separatist tendencies have forced the central Government in Beijing to introduce a slew of administrative measures, particularly security policies to prevent all anti-national activities across the region. For long since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, attempts have been made to settle more Han people in the region to lessen the feeling of alienation of the locals and to bolster nationalistic spirit. Truly speaking, this has become counter-productive. Today, the enmity between the two groups — the ethnic Hans and the Uighurs — has come to a point of no return. They see each other as enemies. They have their own world views. The Hans project Xinjiang as their own as they only have heralded the modern economy, lifestyle and mainstream culture to century’s old deserts and to the herdsman and pastoralists. On the other hand, the indigenous Uighurs see Xinjiang as theirs because they are simply the sons of the soil. These two parallel perspectives of the major groups have literally helped the all-powerful, draconian and totalitarian Chinese State apparatus step into the region. And the rest is what we all observe as no other than a new kid of apartheid, surely with the taste of central party ideology accompanied by the diktats of the hegemonic Xi.

Is it so that Xi is trying to ratcheting up tension between the Hans and the poor disadvantaged sections, mainly the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang? How does his police State help in educating these border people the spirit of nationalism and an extreme sense of allegiance to the Communist Party? How are the new surveillance policies going to bring back the Uighurs into the mainstream of China? Are these all simply a demonstration of Xi’s “Iron Fist”? It is worth uncovering the myth and reality behind the policing of the Uighur nationals in Xinjiang.

Simply put, Xi’s colonial-style policies are only fuelling tensions among the locals. They are increasingly worried about their future of living as “Uighurs”. Many of them quietly express the fact that it is hard to live the life of a Uighur. Today, measures such as re-education camp, convenience police stations, fanghuiju, web cleansing, physicals for all, Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP), etc, are employed to rein in the Uighurs. These are all aimed at promoting what is known as “Love the Party, Love the Country”. What is most disheartening to the Uighurs not only in Xinjiang but also its diaspora across the globe is Beijing’s single-minded objective to stem the spread of anti-national sentiment in Xinjiang by any element.

These mainland policies are severely restricting their religious freedoms in their own birthplace. Weekly or daily worshippers need to compulsorily register with the nearest police stations. It is reported that in many places, including the provincial capital of Urumqi, mosques had to remove their minarets and their age-old Islamic crescents torn off cruelly. The authorities have strictly instructed the local people not to give some 29 Islamic names to their children. Even inside the mosques, classes are being conducted on how to become a good communist.

The re-education camps are built numbering hundreds and thousands in different parts of Xinjiang to punish the Uighurs. Though authorities strongly deny the presence of such camps, media reports that the Uighurs are sent there at times for reasons not known to them. The major reasons for detention include having strict religious opinions, allowing others to preach Islam, trying to find out the whereabouts of lost relatives, praying five times a day, failing to recite the National Anthem, etc. Ironically, the “Freedom of Religion” is guaranteed by the Constitution of China. So it is clear to the locals that unless approved by the CCP, practice of any sort of religious activity is illegitimate in Xinjiang. The most important of all is that labeling someone as “untrustworthy” may simply help him landing up in the camp. And then, there is no end to one’s sufferings.

The strict control of the movement of the Uighurs by the use of “convenience police stations” again brings home another form of torture to them. They are installed within a range of every 300 metres in some areas. These were once introduced by the party chief named Chen when he was there in Tibet from 2011-2016. These stations monitor the residents of the locality; check their identity cards and collection of data from their smartphones for further analysis.

Besides, a new system known as “Fanghuiju” is introduced under which a team of half a dozen people, including policemen, civilians and a Uighur, visits each house for collecting personal information. The Fangshuiju is reportedly applying for “researching people’s conditions, improving people’s lives, winning people’s hearts”. But the party uses this mechanism to eradicate tumours. The officials heading Fangshuiju confidentially report extremist behaviours such as not drinking alcohol, sporting long beards, fasting during the holy month of Ramzan and undesirable elements like Korans and unfriendly attitude towards the party. Thus, no single house is spared from the web of the Fangshuiju.

For the very purpose of “web cleansing”, the Government has ordered every Uighur to install a spyware app on their mobile phones. It is very easy to identify the callers through this system. Failing to install the same is an offence. Beyond this, Wi-Fi sniffers are around in most of the public places to watch all communications and devices used. Again, “Physicals for All” is programme under which the Government collects blood samples, DNA information, an individual’s detention record and finally reliability status so as to keep a close eye on all. These are all done under the guise of this public health programme. Another one harrowing system implemented by the authorities is known as the IJOP through which it uses machine learning systems, information from cameras and smartphones, financial and family planning records and even excessive use of electricity to generate lists of suspects for detention.

Thus, the establishment in Beijing is showing its utmost intransigence while dealing with the Uighurs. Precisely, the locals are distraught. This was demonstrated quite a number of times against the central Government. But the Government is armed with enough evidence to point out the growing signs of jehadism among the Uighurs. In 2013, a Uighur suicide driver crashed his car into pedestrians in the heart of Beijing at the historic Tiananmen Square. Again, in 2014, a knife-wielding Uighur gang slaughtered 31 passengers in Kunming in the Yunan province. Later unrest in Yarkand and attack on a coalmine in Aksu clearly proves that a stream of jehadism has well-settled among the Uighurs. But while dealing with the Uighurs, irrespective of their background, a full-blown physical, mental and technological surveillance in turn creates a situation wherein a quiet preparation for a popular revolt might sink in. This is evident in a Human Rights Watch report, called “Devastating Blows — Religious Repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang” made public in 2005, which says: “The incorporation of the terrorist label into the public discourse has in turn heightened distrust between the Uighur and ethnic Chinese communities in Xinjiang. Uighurs interviewed in the region point out that opponents to Chinese rule in the area have been given many labels over the last half century: they were described by the State as feudal elements and ethnic nationalists in the 1950s and 1960s; as counter-revolutionaries in the1970s and 1980s, as separatists in the 1990s, and now, since 2001, as terrorists.” This says all how Uighurs are undergoing the pain of labelling them as “separatists”. Hence, while applying force and various security measures, the Chinese leadership needs to see that the commoners are taken into confidence.

In the name of fighting “global war on terror”, Beijing is pushing forward all types of repressive measures against the hapless Uighurs. It is well-understood that China has all the right to protect its territorial integrity and fight all anti-national elements within its four walls. But then orchestrating a full-blown war against one and all in the Xinjiang province could be counter-productive in the long run.

(The writer is an expert on international affairs)

Source:http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/oped/chinese-repression-in-xinjiang.html

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