Malaysiakini :: Letters
Malaysiakini :: Letters |
| Uyghur Chinese Muslims subjected to prejudice Posted: 24 Aug 2011 02:13 AM PDT It is true that Chinese Muslims can now perform Hajj in some small numbers. It is also true there are some Chinese-style mosques in certain areas. However, these developments are a drop in the bucket if you consider the Muslim population in China is at least forty million. There must be some token religious freedom to get cooperation in business from the western world, hence these few drops in the bucket of liberalisation. On the ground, however, the bottom line is that the Uyghur Muslim Chinese, who are a Turkic people, cannot use their own language in their own schools. This is exactly what Istanbul did to the Kurds in East Turkey for many years, although with the gradual resurgence of Islam in Turkey, Kurds can now use their own language without being arrested (as they had been for many years). Likewise, the beginnings of Acehnese dissent many years ago only involved the right to use an Islamic curriculum in their public schools, which they were forbidden to do by Jakarta, who insisted they use the nationalized Pancasila school materials that treated Islam on a par with all other religions. Pancasila had been purged of all Muslim terminology or specific teachings. It was only after years of being refused this exemption from Pancasila-based elementary and secondary education that the Acehnese, who are 98 percent Muslim, became totally rebellious. An American student, who had come to NW China to study the Chinese language, found he had made a mistake, and after a few years' effort, went back to the USA. The mistake was that his Uyghur friends were routinely humiliated by the local Han Chinese (most of whom have been 'transmigrated' to this area), in a manner that was reminiscent of prejudice against blacks in the American South in the 1950's. Indeed, the Uyghur's may be considered the 'niggers' of China, and the American student was consorting with 'niggers'. The American was a fine scholar, whose affection for the Chinese was ruined by this experience. He is now a graduate student in mathematics in the USA. Why is it, in the modern world, that people, who have nothing in common with neighbouring people, are so often required to live by force of arms within a polity that has nothing to do with them, and then treated so badly for their efforts? And then deprived of even their own language in the process. The Southern Thai Muslims (Malay by race) are poor and unwanted in the same way. Why should they be interested in a Buddhist school curriculum originating in Bangkok? And why should this region be one of the poorest in Thailand? It seems that Malaysia is now setting another bad example, by exposing to deportation another five Uyghur Chinese who were arrested this month. And this incident in the month of Ramadhan, occurred amid criticism over Malaysia's recent deportation of 11 others to China. This is indeed appalling. The least that this Muslim-dominated government could do is to them give access to the United Nation's officials. The Uyghur are clever people, and they have access to certain modernised facilities, which you can see in photos from NW China. Sooner or later, however, they are going to win their own integrity back again, either within or outside of present-day China. Their plight deserves to be more widely understood by westerners who are going through a certain adulation of the Chinese economic achievements, and repeating their well-known blindness to the human rights abuses of peoples being thoroughly and cruelly oppressed by those peoples with whom they wish to do business. Interestingly, these Uyghur Turkic peoples were among the original settlers of modern-day Muslim Turkey, who are the Muslims most closely related to the European West. Only the Balkan Muslims are closer, and only after unspeakable sufferings of their own. We owe the Uyghurs our attention and our whole-hearted support, as we finally gave to the Balkans. AZRIL MOHD AMIN is vice-president, Muslim Lawyers Association of Malaysia. |
| A despicable piece of journalism Posted: 24 Aug 2011 12:55 AM PDT The Council of Churches of Malaysia welcomes the apology tendered by the Malay language daily Sinar Harian over its article 'Matlamat Gerakan Kristian' (Objectives of the Christian movement) published on Aug 23. They have admitted that the information published in the article is inaccurate and in error. However we note that there has been no expression of remorse. The suggestions that Christian groups would encourage immoral activities as part of an attempt to propagate their faith is clearly preposterous, erroneous, inflammatory, and a flagrant attack on another religion. It is our view that any reasonable person would have found the article totally offensive, not just to the Christians in our country but to all decent-minded and peace-loving people. This despicable piece of journalism, and other stories like it, should never be repeated. The management and the editorial department of Sinar Harian must now prove the sincerity of their apology by publicly stating what measures they are taking to ensure that stories of this nature are never published again in their newspaper. Unless there are systemic changes in their editorial processes, and proper procedures and guidelines are put in place, there is no guarantee that the newspaper, or others like it, will not repeat the harm done on another occasion. A respected and responsible newspaper must ensure at all times that it is never a party to callous and insensitive reporting bent on destroying the good relationship among the religious communities in our country. Rev Dr Hermen Shastri is general secretary, Council of Churches of Malaysia. |
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