Dragon intensifies its ethnic cleansing programme in Xinjiang; justifies its removal from the permanent membership of UNSC   

When France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called on July 28 for a UN-led observer mission to evaluate the treatment of China’s Uyghur Muslim population and accused Beijing of “indefensible practices” against the Muslim minority, no one was surprised. Several reports in media had surfaced on the miserable plights of one million Uighur Muslim minorities. At the recent UNGA, Abdulxukur Abdurixit, a Uighur, urged the UN Human Rights Council to name a UN investigator for Uyghur where “a genocide being committed” against Muslims. Several other countries too supported this demand. 

While China has been denying such ‘allegation’ on expected lines, a few credible documents have surfaced to confirm the maltreatment of the Uyghurs Muslims. Several Uyghur Muslims who have escaped from China have provide with graphic details of brutalisation of the community there. Large scale destruction of Mosques has taken place in that province. A recent report from the Australian think-tank -Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)- has pointed out that about 16,000 mosques in that province have been razed since 2017 with impunity. This assessment has been made on the basis of satellite imageries. The think tank had examined about 900 religious’ sites prior to 2017, including mosques, shrines and sacred sites and compared the imageries with the current ones. 

Last year in May, the Guardian and open-source journalism website Bellingcat had reported the destruction of Mosques in Xinjiang. They used satellite imagery to examine 91 religious sites identified by people who used to live in the north-western province, finding that 31 mosques and two major shrines showed significant structural damage between 2016 and 2018. Of these, 15 structures had been completely destroyed and in others defining features like minaret and domes had been removed. These included important religious centres. The Imam Asim shrine, an important pilgrimage site for Uighurs, and the Kargilik Mosque, one of the largest mosques in the area, were among the buildings destroyed. The Yutian Aitika Mosque near Hotan, a large mosque dating back to the year 1200 where locals gathered for religious holidays, was also destroyed.

The above is only one dimension of the Chinese policy against the Uyghur Muslims. The Chinese aim is to erase the Uyghur culture, religion, music, symbols, etc from the nation. It has launched a systematic and intentional campaign to rewrite the cultural heritage of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. China desires Hanisation of the Uyghur region. Two steps deserve attention in this regard. First, the Uyghur Muslim population has been sent to ‘re-education camps’, which are meant for their brainwashing. They are given education in Han culture and asked to forget the Muslim religion. After their ‘training’ is over, they are asked to work far away from their native place as factory workers or in shops as forced labourers. These re-education camps are called ‘no right zones for Muslims’. The lack of any freedom or basic facilities suggest that these could be called ‘concentration camps’ of World War II.  Second, their population is controlled through coercion. Couples are subjected to forced sterilisation to keep the growth of population under control. Those who violate family planning laws are sent to re-education camps. Han population would be encouraged to move to Uyghur changing the demographic pattern like in Tibet.

The cyber-surveillance is maintained over the Uyghur population. There are reported to be 1400 tech firms in Xinjiang working for the CPC. Those living outside the ‘re-education camps’ are kept under strict surveillance. Cameras have been installed everywhere to keep a watch on their activities. Reports indicate that several Uyghur Muslims have hidden their mobiles or stopped using them for fear of being arrested for visiting Muslim religion connected sites or saving verses of their religion.   

The so-called protectors of Islamic religion like Pakistan and Turkey have not only turned a blind eye to what is happening in that region but also keep on handing over those Uyghur Muslim migrants, who come to their countries. Their duplicitous approach stands exposed.   

Such acts committed by China, which is Permanent Member of the UNSC, deserves condemnation in the strongest terms. In the 21st Century such acts which are tantamount to genocide are tolerated by the world body reflects its weaknesses. The failure of UN on several issues including the WHO toeing the Chinese line has been implicit in the Indian PM’s virtual address to the UNGA. While UN reforms may take some time, it imperative for the world body not only to send a team to suggest ways to protect the Uyghur Muslims but also to remove China from the permanent membership of the UNSC. This membership demands responsible and just behaviour and China has failed on this count. It has misused its veto power several times. China is selective in accepting international law: it accepts only where it does not run counter to its own interests. Its actions are unacceptable in the annexed regions after 1949 and in its periphery. Its bullying tactics are unsettling its neighbours in the South China Sea and at the Indo-Tibetan border are against its own agreements with India. Both are parts of the Chinese expansionist game plan. 

Alongside, the areas like Uyghurs, Tibet and Inner Mongolia should be placed under the protection of UN by reviving the UN Trusteeship Council for this unprecedented situation created by an aggressive country. It may be recalled that the United Nations Trusteeship Council was one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, established to help ensure that trust territories were administered in the best interests of their inhabitants and of international peace and security. Its revival has become necessary to provide relief to people who are not only being denied basic freedoms but are subjected to worst atrocities.