Pakistanis voice protest Chinese persecution of Uyghurs

Pakistanis voiced against the persecution of Uyghurs, the Muslim community in the neighbouring Xinjiang province, by the Chinese authorities, according to JustEarth News reported. Although the current government of Pakistan have remained silent because of its close ties with China, some sets of Pakistani have raised their voice in the favour of Uyghurs.

There are some sets of Pakistani media that are talking about the persecution of Uyghurs, quoting Western media reports and human rights bodies, which were completely ignored by the government. At one point former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan even denied the allegations against the Beijing authorities saying he did not believe them.

On April 19, Qazi Javid, in his column in Urdu in Jasarat, reminds China of its treatment against Uyghur women when China expressed its concern over Afghan women being ill-treated by the Taliban, reported JustEarth News. The Chinese also declare that they do not 'interfere' in the internal affairs of any country, but have made exceptions, for obvious diplomatic reasons, to express their 'concern' abound the Taliban not allowing Afghan women to enter schools and colleges and take up employment.

The issue is thus a delicate one on which all three countries are careful and evasive. Besides religion and the human rights aspects, there is also opposition to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that traverses through Pakistan from Xinjiang to Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. Pakistanis, especially the Islamic clergy on one hand and the 'nationalists' on the other resent the Chinese presence.

Reacting to China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang's statement regarding the ill-treatment of women by the Taliban, Javid said, "Yes, this is the same China where the women of the Muslim Uyghur community are left naked, handcuffed, and humiliated in front of humanoid dogs and other animals for practising Muslim beliefs." "A few are punished until they die and the perpetrators are told not to allow them to die too soon but to let them suffer as much as they can," Javid writes quoting a report prepared by a Britain-based human rights body.

"The Muslim world and free people around the world want to ask China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang if China is not committing genocide against the Uyghur Muslim community," JustEarth News quoted Javid as saying. According to Legal Opinion published in the UK in 2017, which is reviewed annually, there is clear evidence that the Chinese government is complicit in the crimes of genocide against the Uyghur community.

Javid stated a case can be filed against China in the International Court of Justice. The legal opinion states that extensive evidence in north-western China indicates the Chinese government intends to exterminate this Muslim minority (the Uyghurs). "Evidence shows that measures such as deliberately harming Uyghur Muslims during detention, terminating women's ability to bear children and promoting abortion were taken, while children of Uyghur families were forcibly removed from their homes. There is also evidence of shifting them outside their community," JustEarth News quoted Javid saying.

Javid alleges that "Chinese President Xi Jinping himself is responsible for these crimes against humanity."