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A brief history
A brief history
The Uyghurs (/ˈwiːɡʊərz//uːiˈɡʊərz/; Uyghur: ئۇيغۇرلار, уйғурлар, [ujɣurˈlɑr]; Chinese: 维吾尔; pinyin: Wéiwú'ěr, [wěiǔàɚ]),alternately Uygurs, Uighurs or Uigurs, are a minority Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia.
the Uighurs have deep roots in the Xingjiang region, descending from the ancient Sogdian traders once observed by Marco Polo. Unlike many of the nomadic tribes of Central Asia, the Uighurs are an urban people whose identity crystallized in the oasis towns of the Silk Road.
The Uyghurs have traditionally inhabited a series of oases scattered across the Taklamakan Desert comprising the Tarim Basin, a territory which has historically been controlled by many civilizations including China, the Mongols, the Tibetans and the Turkic world. The Uyghurs started to become Islamised in the tenth century and became largely Muslim by the 16th century, and Islam has since played an important role in Uyghur culture and identity.
the Uighurs have deep roots in the Xingjiang region, descending from the ancient Sogdian traders once observed by Marco Polo. Unlike many of the nomadic tribes of Central Asia, the Uighurs are an urban people whose identity crystallized in the oasis towns of the Silk Road.
The Uyghurs have traditionally inhabited a series of oases scattered across the Taklamakan Desert comprising the Tarim Basin, a territory which has historically been controlled by many civilizations including China, the Mongols, the Tibetans and the Turkic world. The Uyghurs started to become Islamised in the tenth century and became largely Muslim by the 16th century, and Islam has since played an important role in Uyghur culture and identity.
Uyghurs Culture Heritage
Current scenario
Current scenario
China is known for tight constraints on freedom of religion. This is particularly evident in its northwest Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), an oil-rich area that borders eight other nations. Here the Muslim faith of Uighurs, the largest non-Chinese ethnic group in the region, is under wholesale assault by the state. Uighurs have enjoyed autonomy in the past. Uighurs are thus seen in Beijing as an ethno-nationalist threat to the Chinese state.
Human Rights Watch reveal a multi-tiered system of surveillance, control, and suppression of religious activity aimed at Xinjiang's Uighurs. At its most extreme, peaceful activists who practice their religion in a manner deemed unacceptable by state authorities or Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials are arrested, tortured, and at times executed. The harshest punishments are meted out to those accused of involvement in separatist activity, which is increasingly equated by officials with "terrorism."
At a more mundane and routine level, many Uighurs experience harassment in their daily lives. Celebrating religious holidays, studying religious texts, or showing one's religion through personal appearance are strictly forbidden at state schools. The Chinese government has instituted controls over who can be a cleric, what version of the Qura'n may be used, where religious gatherings may be held, and what may be said on religious occasions.
Authorities in the Chinese capital ordered halal restaurants and food stalls to remove Arabic script and symbols associated with Islam from their signs, part of an expanding national effort to "Sinicize" its Muslim population.
Those Uighurs who are practicing or having Arabic text are taken to concentration camps. At least one million Uighurs and other Muslims are being held in detention centers in the remote western region of the country.
"Xinjiang will always keep up the intensity of its crackdown on ethnic separatist forces and deal them devastating blows without showing any mercy."[1]
Xinjiang Party Secretary Wang Lequan, January 2003
Latest news
Latest news
Australia calls on China to allow Uighur mother and son to leave(17/07/2019)
The decision comes after an Australian man pleaded for his Uighur wife and son, an Australian citizen, to be united.
China rebuked at UN over Uighur detention(10/07/2019)
Over 20 countries urge China to halt detention but fears of potential backlash prevented a formal statement.
The jailed folk singer at the front line of the Uighur struggle(16/03/2019)
Abdurehim Heyit unites Uighurs, intimidates China and makes the world pay attention to our plight only with his music.
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