With the start of Ramzan, United States (US) President Joe Biden has expressed solidarity with the Uighur minority in China, which his country says is being subjected to genocide by the Chinese communist authorities.
“Together with our partners, the United States stands in solidarity with Muslims who continue to face oppression, including Uighurs in the People’s Republic of China, Rohingya in Burma, and other Muslim communities facing persecution around the world,” Biden said in a statement on Thursday. He did not mention the Muslim community in India.
“During this sacred time of reflection, the United States also reaffirms our support to Muslim communities suffering hardships and devastation,” Biden said, referring to earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria, and flood victims in Pakistan.
According to rights groups, Uighurs are subjected to mass imprisonment in forced labour camps and banned from expressing their cultural norms. Beijing has denied all allegations, stating the ethnic minority is not being repressed and that any security measures in the region are a response to terrorism threats.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, prior to his upcoming trip to China from February 3 to February 5, during which the premier will attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and meet Chinese leaders. He also spoke to journalists on various issues concerning both Pakistan and China.
The premier reinforced that his visit will reinforce a strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, and further advance the objective of building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.
Appreciating China for how it developed over the years, PM Khan said the world should see how China helped the poor develop and eradicate poverty.
Talking on China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) PM Khan said that the first phase of CPEC was connectivity and power generation. “Now the CPEC has moved into the next stage where it’s about the relocation of industry. We want to develop our industrial zones, our special economic zones. Then we want special help in agriculture to increase our productivity. In China, productivity is very high as compared to Pakistan. “
When asked about how the West presented the picture of Chinese Muslims suffering in Uighur, PM Khan said, “There is a lot of criticism about the treatment of Uighur’s by China in the West. Our ambassador went there, Moin-ul-Haq, our ambassador in China went there. We had asked him, he went there and he sent us information and said this is actually not true on the ground.”
“What we in Pakistan find it very difficult to swallow is that while they talk about Uighurs, they do not talk much in the West about Kashmir. Because in Kashmir the worst violations of human rights have taken place by India. And somehow there is selective silence about human rights in Kashmir,” said PM Khan.
The premier further said, “Where there is something like nine million people, who are basically living in the worst conditions in almost open prison by these 800,000 Indian troops. So we find it very difficult that while on one side they talk about Xinjiang but on the other hand the silence about Kashmir is demeaning for us. And that double standard is what we in Pakistan find difficult.”
The premier, talking about Afghanistan, said that is the foreign countries who turned have Afghanistan into a battleground and for 40 years the people have suffered. He further said that the people of Afghanistan have gotten a chance after 40 years to live in peace.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Thursday said that the relationship between Pakistan and China is very deep. “It’s not just the governments, but it’s a people-to-people relationship.”
“Whatever will happen…[the] relationship between our two countries, no matter what pressure is put on us, is not going to change,” PM Khan said in response to a question.
Speaking to Chinese journalists as Beijing marked the centenary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), the premier said the Chinese version about the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang was completely different from what was being reported in the western media.
“Because of our extreme proximity and relationship with China, we actually accept the Chinese version,” added PM Khan.
He said that it was hypocritical that while the Uyghur situation and Hong Kong were being highlighted, attention was not being given to the human rights violations in Indian-Occupied Kashmir.
“It is hypocritical. There are much worse human rights violations taking place in other parts of the world such as in occupied Kashmir. But western media hardly comments on this,” he said.
PM Khan praised the Communist Party. He said that until now, it was believed that electoral democracy is the best way to bring leaders on merit and hold them accountable.
“But China’s process to hunt talent and then polish it is better than any electoral democracy.”
PM Khan also praised President Xi for his success in the fight against poverty and corruption in China.
“China has lifted 700 million people out of poverty in a few years, which is a great achievement. We want to further develop political, economic and trade relations between the two countries.”
PM Khan said that Pakistanis are impressed by the Chinese president’s fight against corruption and consider him “a great politician of modern times”.
“President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign is effective and successful.”
Huda, a Muslim student, in the United States (US) became the target of racial insults by parents and students for highlighting the plight of Palestinians and Uighurs in her graduation speech.
“Our lips are yet free. Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and stand up for any injustice that you see,” Huda said in her speech
“Educate yourself about international dilemmas including the ethnic cleansings of Palestinians and Uighur Muslims. Families are continuously torn apart and real human lives are being lost but ignored. Educate yourself on the widespread issues that plague our planet and threaten our very existence in the long run,” she added.
Huda further said, “Consider global warming with the gravity that it needs to be looked at with and never stop speaking about these issues until they are resolved.”
Parents and students targeted a Muslim student with racist insults during a graduation ceremony at a school in the US. And the principal apologised to the harassers instead of the student pic.twitter.com/gZNckUCwML
As per reports, Huda’s speech was approved by the school but later the principal claimed that it wasn’t. The principal also apologised to the students and parents who targeted Huda with racial insults and sent them e-mails claiming that she “changed her speech”.
A disclaimer was also added in the video that this line was not “approved by the Wheatley Speech Selection Committee”.
Mesut Ozil said Wednesday he was deeply disappointed” to be axed from Arsenal’s Premier League squad amid speculation he has played his last game for the London club.
The 32-year-old is the highest-paid player in Arsenal’s history on a reported £350,000 ($450,000) a week, but has also been omitted from the Gunners’ Europa League squad.
Ozil has not played a single minute for Mikel Arteta’s side since March 7.
“This is a difficult message to write to the Arsenal fans that I’ve played for over the past few years,” said Ozil in a statement posted on social media.
“I’m really deeply disappointed by the fact that I have not been registered for the Premier League season for the time being.”
Former Germany international Ozil went on to question Arsenal’s loyalty having signed his current deal, which expires next year, in January 2018 — the same time Alexis Sanchez left the Gunners for Manchester United.
“Upon signing my new contract in 2018, I pledged my loyalty and allegiance to the club that I love, Arsenal, and it saddens me that this has not been reciprocated,” said Ozil.
“As I have just found out, loyalty is hard to come by nowadays. I’ve always tried to remain positive from week to week that there’s maybe a chance to get back in the squad soon again. That’s why I kept silent so far.”
Alongside Greece defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos — also left out of both squads — Ozil will only be able to represent Arsenal Under-23s until 2021 at the earliest.
This month saw Ozil offer to pay the salary of Arsenal’s popular mascot Gunnersaurus after Jerry Quy, who has played the role of the dinosaur since 1993, was let go by the club with stadiums empty during the coronavirus crisis.
Arsenal midfielder Ozil spoke out on Instagram against China’s treatment of the Uighur population in Xinjiang last year.
More than one million Uighurs and mostly Muslim Turkic minorities have been rounded up in internment camps, according to human rights groups and experts.
Arsenal did not criticise Ozil for making the comments, but instead posted on their page on the Chinese social media site Weibo that the club “always adheres to the principles” of not getting involved in politics.
British journalist Mehdi Hasan has called out the Prime Minsiter (PM) Imran Khan-led Pakistan government for voicing concerns over repression being faced by Muslims across the globe expect the Chinese persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.
Speaking to Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari on his show, Al Jazeera’s Hasan asked as to why had Pakistan not publicly criticised China on its detention of millions of Uighur Muslims.
“There’s a quote on your Twitter profile page from the great Muslim leader and the grandson of the prophet, Imam Hussain, that reads ‘those who are silent when others are oppressed, are guilty of oppression themselves’,” he said, adding that in China, millions of Uighur Muslims were being detained against their will in “concentration camps” and yet the Pakistani government had said nothing.
“In fact, PM Imran Khan has said that he will not criticise China on this publically. Couldn’t the Uighurs say that your silence, Pakistan’s silence, means that you’re guilty of oppressing them too?”
Responding to the question, Mazari said that the link established by Hasan was “absurd” since her government had talked to China. “When we have evidence, we take it up. But China is an ally of ours, and we will not go screaming on the streets about it.”
When asked if Pakistan had condemned Chinese actions privately, the minister said that Islamabad had been speaking to the Chinese and “hearing their point of view”.
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“You haven’t stood up and spoken about the Uighurs… that’s the problem,” the journalist maintained as Mazari said repression must be called out regardless of who was behind it when asked if she would condemn the Chinese actions.
PAKISTAN, CHINA & UIGHURS:
The Chinese government has reportedly detained more than a million Muslims in reeducation camps. Most of the people who have been arbitrarily detained are Uighur, a predominantly Turkic-speaking ethnic group primarily from China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Human rights organisations, United Nations (UN) officials and many foreign governments are urging China to stop the crackdown; however, officials maintain that what they call “vocational training centres” do not infringe on Uighurs’ rights.
While the Chinese government has refused to share information about the detention centres and prevented journalists and foreign investigators from examining them, internal documents leaked in late 2019 have provided important details on how officials launched and maintain the camps.
As part of a campaign seeking relief for Uighurs in China, Islamabad has time and again been called out for raising its voice for Muslims facing Indian oppression in held Kashmir as well as helpless Palestinians, but not for those in China where lie Pakistan’s economic interests — such as the construction of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
CPEC is a collection of infrastructure projects that are currently under construction throughout Pakistan. Originally valued at $46 billion, the value of CPEC projects is worth $62 billion as of 2017.
It is expected to not only benefit Pakistan and China, but also to have a positive impact on Iran, Afghanistan and India with the enhancement of geographical links through improved road, rail and air transportation system with frequent and free exchanges of growth and people to people contact.
