Kejamnya Perang pada Mereka yang Masih Tinggal

Bayangkan perasaan anda yang masih gagal melupakan saat-saat ketakutan yang berlaku pada masa lalu? Biarpun peristiwa tersebut telah menjangkau lebih 30 tahun, kesannya masih dirasa malah menyeksa jiwa dari hari ke hari. Ini belum lagi gangguan serta mimpi ngeri yang hadir semasa tidur ataupun kegagalan memberi sepenuh tumpuan semasa melakukan satu-satu kerja. Pasti peristiwa tersebut sebenarnya amat menakutkan, ngeri atau mendatangkan ketakutan yang amat pada diri.

Berita Harian bahagian Dunia hari ini, 21 Julai 2009 melaporkan pengalaman trauma yang masih menghantui bekas pengawal di penjara Tuol Sleng atau dikenali juga sebagai S-21. Bekas pengawal tersebut kini adalah antara saksi utama kepada jenayah perang melibatkan penderaan dan pembunuhan lebih 14 000 orang Kemboja yang diselia oleh bekas ketua penjara rejim Pol Pot iaitu Kaing Guek Eav (Duch). Duch adalah pemimpin pertama yang dibicarakan di tribunal jenayah perang daripada 5 pemimpin yang masih hidup dan perbicaraan ke atas Duch (disebut Doik) telah bermula 18 Februari yang lalu.

"Jika saya melihat beliau menaiki sebuah basikal ke arah saya, saya akan mencari tempat untuk melarikan diri dari beliau. Saya amat takutkan beliau. Malah, sekarang juga saya masih takutkannya." Ini adalah petikan kata-kata Him Huay, bekas pengawal yang mengucapkannya sambil menangis.

Bayang-bayang ketakutan akibat kekejaman yang dilakukan oleh Duch ketika rejim Khmer Rouge berkuasa di bawah pimpinan Pol Pot masih menghantuinya hingga kini. Him Huay hanyalah salah seorang individu yang mengalami trauma akibat perilaku kejam komunis. Mujur juga dia adalah pengawal penjara, bukannya mangsa yang tidak bersalah yang ditahan dan dibunuh di dalam penjara S-21 tersebut.

Dalam satu laporan yang lain, dikatakan kanak-kanak di Palestin mengalami trauma perang yang lebih dahsyat dan bakal mengambil masa bertahun-tahun untuk pulih. Bayangkan saja kanak-kanak seusia 10 tahun tidak lagi menulis 'Apple' untuk A, 'Ball' untuk B tetapi memilih 'Apache' (jenis helikopter tempur yang digunakan Israel ketika menyerang Gaza) untuk A, 'Blood' untuk B, 'Coffin' untuk C dan seterusnya.

Begitu terkesannya perang serta kekejaman yang berlaku hinggakan ia terzahir dalam tindakan kanak-kanak yang baru belajar mengenal dunia...kejamnya perang pada mereka yang masih tinggal..

Wardah bt Abdul Rahman
Pulau Pinang

Komunis Bukan Penghalang Kemaraan Islam

Komunis Bukan Penghalang Kemaraan Islam

• Islam kini merupakan agama kedua terbesar di Rusia, negara yang dahulunya pernah berada di bawah jajahan kerajaan Soviet yang berfahaman komunis.


• Kira-kira 17% iaitu 21-28 juta daripada 142 penduduk di negara terbesar di dunia ini beragama Islam.


• Fahaman komunis melarang penduduk di negara tersebut mengamalkan agama masing-masing dan di bawah pemerintahan komunis dahulu, Islam turut sama cuba dihapuskan.


• Dalam situasi krisis ekonomi sekarang, ahli ekonomi di kebanyakan negara Barat termasuk Rusia turut mencari kaedah alternatif melalui perbankan dan kewangan Islam.


• Buktinya, pada 17-18 Mac tahun lalu pernah diadakan persidangan ‘Islamic Banking: Specifications and Perspectives’ yang dianjurkan di Moscow.


• Walau bagaimanapun, disebabkan sistem ekonomi Rusia yang pelik dan ketidaksediaan pasaran Rusia untuk menerima sistem kewangan Islam, idea perbankan Islam sukar menjadi realiti.

• Saiz keluarga Muslim di Rusia adalah lebih besar berbanding penganut agama lain. Dianggarkan sebuah keluarga Muslim mempunyai 4-5 orang anak sedangkan kadar kelahiran dalam kalangan penduduk Rusia yang lain hanya 1.41 bagi sebuah keluarga.


• Perkara ini telah menyumbang ke arah peningkatan bilangan individu Muslim di Rusia.


• Etnik Rusia yang lain mempunyai kadar kelahiran yang rendah dan kadar kematian yang tinggi akibat penagihan alkohol.


• Perkara ini tidak berlaku dalam kalangan orang Islam yang memandang alkohol adalah haram.


• Bermula tahun 1990, bilangan Muslim yang mengerjakan Haji meningkat secara mendadak selepas sekatan dari era Soviet berakhir.


• Krisis ekonomi tidak memberi kesan kepada penduduk Muslim yang keluar mengerjakan Haji atau Umrah kerana jumlah biaya yang diperlukan masih sama.


• Pada tahun 2008, 25 838 orang Muslim Rusia mengerjakan ibadah Haji berbanding 26 500 orang pada tahun 2007.


• Jumlah cetakan Al-Quran dan kitab tafsir tetap meningkat dan tidak terjejas biarpun dalam krisis ekonomi sekarang.


• Kebanyakan buku yang terjejas akibat permintaan yang kurang adalah buku yang mengajar perbandingan agama.


• Terdapat dakwaan dari golongan pakar mengatakan negara Rusia sedang mengalami perubahan yang jika ianya berterusan, hampir 1/3 daripada jumlah penduduk Rusia akan memeluk Islam menjelang pertengahan abad ini.
  

Wardah bt Abdul Rahman
http://ulum-ulama.blogspot.com/

Kenyataan Bersama Krisis Perkauman di China

Kenyataan Bersama Krisis Perkauman di China
Terus ke Komen
JOINT PRESS STATEMENT
CHINA MUST RECOGNIZE AND PROTECT
UIGHUR MINORITY RIGHTS
- DEAL UNREST EVEN-HANDEDLY THROUGH INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION

12 TH JULY 2009
We are deeply concerned over the escalating violence in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Reports suggest that the unrest has now spread from Urumqi to the cities of Kashgar, Yarkand, Aksu, Khotan and Karamay.
There are conflicting reports from various sources regarding the number of dead in Urumqi, and the cause of these deaths. Official reports say at least 156 have been killed, while other sources put the figure above 1,000. Uighur sources within Xinjiang say that 400 Uighurs have been killed by police. So far, there have been 1,000 injured and 1,434 arrested in relation to the unrest in Xinjiang.
Official reports link the unrest to the death of two Uighur factory workers in June in an ethnic clash at a toy factory in Shaoguan, Guangdong province. However, other reports suggest that more than 100 Uighurs were killed during the incident at the factory. While the Chinese authorities imposed an information black-out on the incident, it was allegedly the rumours of this incident, and the government’s inaction, that sparked an estimated 10,000 Uighur protestors to take to the streets in Urumqi.
Reports suggest police knew in advance protestors would be demonstrating in large numbers and blocked the roads to prevent them from assembling. This, and heavy-handed policing toward Uighurs, is thought to have played a role in turning the initially peaceful protests in Urumqi into violent riots.
It is probable that the substantial influx of Han Chinese to the region has played a role in the current unrest. A drastic ‘in-transfer’ of ethnic Han Chinese has coincided with the government policy of transferring Uighur women from Xinjiang to the urban areas of China’s eastern seaboard for forced labour, significantly changing the region’s demographics.
According to reports in the media China’s Uighurs are undoubtedly amongst the most repressed peoples of the world. Some of the human rights abuses Uighurs face are forced labour, forced abortion, human trafficking, arbitrary arrest and detention, and severe racial and religious persecution and discrimination.
We call on the Chinese government:
To carry out an open and independent investigation into the ethnic clash and deaths that took place in Guangdong in late June.
To deal with the protestors in a proportionate and even-handed manner and those arrested must receive fair trials in accordance with international standards. Adequate investigations on the circumstances surrounding all deaths should be carried out.
To respect, and provide opportunities for Uighurs to enjoy, their human rights including their religious and cultural rights.
To abandon the policy of changing the demography of the region through Han migration and trying to assimilate them into the Han community.
To recognize and give effect to the right of self-determination of the Uighurs in accordance with international law.
To establish inter-ethnic goodwill councils to address inter-ethnic problems and promote unity.
Abdul Ghani Samsudin
Chairman ,SHURA
S.M. Mohamed Idris
Chairman , Citizens International
Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid
President , TERAS

Muslim Bulgaria Terus Ditindas

Sumber berita : Harakah edisi 22-25 Jun 2009

• Agama Islam adalah agama kedua terbesar di negara ini.


• Islam dibawa ke Bulgaria sejak beberapa kurun oleh pendakwah khususnya daripada negara Turki hingga ibu negara Bulgaria dinamakan Sofia (seorang sufi yang beramal dengan ilmu tasawwuf) pada 774H.
  
• Bulgaria pernah mengalami pentadbiran negara berteraskan fahaman komunis suatu ketika dahulu dan kini negara tersebut lebih cenderung kepada fahaman sekularisme. Walau bagaimanapun, masih kelihatan bibit-bibit komunis dalam kalangan pemimpinnya.


• Pada 2005, Bulgaria mula menyertai Kesatuan Eropah. Sejak itu, penentangan terhadap Islam dan umatnya mulai kendur.


• Namun, kejahilan mengenai Islam masih boleh dilihat melalui tindakan pemerintah yang tidak mahu mengambil tahu mengenai Islam dan tekanan yang dikenakan ke atas umat Islam di sana.


• Islam diperlihatkan seolah-olah penghalang bagi sesuatu kemajuan yang ingin dicapai.


• Antara tekanan yang diterima oleh orang Islam di Bulgaria ialah ditunda pembayaran gaji, diberhentikan kerja tanpa alasan munasabah dan diejek di khalayak ramai.


• Muslim Bulgaria masih mendapat bantuan dan mempunyai hubungan baik dengan negara Arab walaupun negara Arab tidak mahu mengambil tahu masalah dalaman yang berlaku.
  
• Jabatan Mufti yang diketuai oleh Dr. Mustafa al-Haji kini sedang merangka skim perniagaan bagi merangsang ekonomi umat Islam. Selain itu, program keagamaan disusun bagi menjelaskan Islam kepada umat Islam dan rakyat Bulgaria.

Diringkaskan oleh :

Wardah bt Abdul Rahman

Pergolakan di Selatan Thailand

Semalam genap sebulan tragedi berdarah yang mengorbankan 11 jemaah yang sedang solat Isyak di Masjid al-Furqan, Kampung Air Tempayan, Narathiwat, Thailand. Dalam kejadian tersebut, lima atau enam lelaki yang bersenjata automatik memasuki ruangan masjid sebelum melepaskan tembakan ramabang mengarah kepada jemaah dan membunuh antaranya imam masjid serta mencederakan 19 jemaah yang lain.

Kejadian menembak orang Islam di dalam rumah Allah ini disifatkan sebagai tindakan yang amat biadap dan tidak berperikemanusiaan! Kini korban di wilayah Islam yang bergolak (Yala, Narathiwat dan Pattani) di selatan Thailand meningkat kepada 3 700 orang dan tiada yang boleh memberi jaminan bahawa tragedi yang sama tidak akan berulang lagi.

Sejak 2003 lagi, wilayah selatan Thailand mula tegang berikutan arahan yang dikeluarkan oleh Perdana Menteri Thailand ketika itu, Thaksin Shinawatra terhadap penduduk yang militan di tiga wilayah Islam berkenaan. Selepas arahan tersebut, lebih 1500 penduduk telah terbunuh. Jumlah ini juga dianggarkan bersamaan dengan bilangan anak yatim yang ibu bapa mereka terbunuh sejak 2004.

Tragedi pembantaian umat Islam juga berlaku dalam peristiwa di Masjid Kerisik disusuli peristiwa Tak Bai pada 25 Oktober 2004. Tragedi Tak Bai juga mencerminkan sikap tentera Thailand yang kejam dan mencemarkan kesucian bulan Ramadhan umat Islam.

Patanikini di dalam blognya menulis bagaimana bermulanya sejarah bermulanya permasalahan yang timbul di selatan Thailand kini. Baca petikan di bawah.

Ada beberapa perkara dan fakta yang pihak kami rasa harus dibentangkan disini kapada para pembaca dan penyokong. Pertama Patani jatuh pada tahun masehi 1786 setelah beratus-ratus tahun berperang dengan bangsa Thai.Patani sentiasa menang dalam peperangan sebelumnya.bahkan tentera Patani pernah mengalahkan benteng Ayuthia ! Kekalahan yang terakhir itu adalah kerana konspirasi dan pengkhianatan dari dalam pimpinan Patani sendiri. Sejak dari tarikh kekalahan itu Patani begitu lemah kerana sebahagian besar dari askar-askarnya telah ditawan dan di cucuk keting(kaki) dan di bawa ke Bangkok. Yang ditinggalkan adalah orang-orang tua perempuan dan kanak-kanak yang telah bunuh oleh askar Siam sebanyak 30000 orang dengan menelentang kan mereka-mereka ini di atas jalaraya dan di pijak dengan gajah Secara kejam.!!!

Selepas dari tarikh tersebut kebangkitan sering berlaku tapi secara kecil-kecilan. Sekali sekala mereka melakukan pembasmian beramai-beramai secara kejam.Negara Patani pernah berdamai dengan Siam dengan membayar bunga emas sebagai perlindungan. Hasil dari tidak melawan dan berhenti berperang ini Siam dengan galakan dari penjajah Inggeris telah pada tahun 1902 mengishtiharkan Patani sebagai sebahagian dari bumi Thai. Pada tahun1909 telah diadakan perjanjian Anglo-Bangkok diantara Inggeris –Siam tanpa memaklumkan pada Raja-raja melayu pada masa itu.

Rakyat Patani mula bangkit semula sehingga membawa kapada berbagai-bagai peristiwa pembunuhan kejam oleh Siam yang tidak dapat di lupai oleh bangsa Melayu Patani!!!!

Pada permulaaan kemasukan Jepun ka-Tanah Melayu melalui Siam pihak Inggeris telah minta bantuan Tengku Mahmud Mahyidin (anak raja Patani) yang terkenal dengan gelaran harimau Malaya untuk menyiapkan pasukan gurilla yang di kenali sebagai Force 136. Banyak orang –orang Patani terlibat dalam pasukan ini.Inggeris menjanjikan akan menyatukan Patani dengan persekutuan tanah melayu jika berjaya mengalahkan Jepun. Selepas perang ketika pihak inggeris bersdia melaksanakan janji mereka tiba-tiba Amerika menghalang kerana bimbang Siam akan memihak pada blok Komunis.Selepas itu Tengku Mahmud Mahyidin telah dibunuh secara diupah pembantunya memberi racun kedalam makanannya!!!!.Haji Sulong juga telah dibunuh dengan kejam oleh Siam tanpa diketahui dimana kubornya. Selepas itu bermula lah kebangkitan orang-orang Patani secara tersusun dan terancang.Seandainya dimasa itu wujud nya setikawan Bangsa Melayu dari pemerentah Malaya sudah tentu Patani tidak terbiar saperti hari ini.Kebangkitan ini berperingkat. Bermula dari memujuk tokoh-tokoh gedeber( bandit) dan memberi kefahaman perjuangan kapada mereka sehingga lah dapat dibentuk suatu tentera yang terdiri dari anak-anak muda yang terlatih.Perjuangan mula menurun pada tahun 90 puluhan apabila berlaku gerakan masjid kerisik yang juga didalangi oleh pemimpin pejuang yang berpakat dalam suatu pakatan yang di namakan PRC.

Setelah pemerentah Thai mengganyang pergerakan masjid kerisik kumpulan Wahdah,sebuah kumpulan ahli-ahli politik melayu yang bekerjasama dengan Chaovalit dalam partai Harapan Baru mengambil kesempatan dengan alasan untuk membila nasib pejuang-pejuang masjid kerisik.Mereka berjaya menggunakan sel-sel yang telah dibentuk oleh pergerakan masjid kerisik.Dari hari itu hampir seluruh masyarakat Patani telah sekali lagi memberi peluang pada keamanan untuk membila nasi rakyat Patani. Kumpulan Wahdah berjaya membina sel-sel mereka sehingga pada keseluruhan tahun 90 han orang -orang Patani telah hampir-hampir menolak jalan Jihad sebagai perjuangan mereka kerana begitu yakin dengan pembelaan dari kumpulan wahdah yang mendapat tempat istimewa disisi penjajah Thai.
Kedudukan orang-orang melayu agak maju sehingga saudara Wan Mohd Nor Mattar pernah dilantik sebagai Menteri Dalam negeri dan Timbalan Perdana Menteri.Perkara ini tak pernah berlaku dalam sejarah orang-orang Patani. Hampir seluruh pembesar-pembesar melayu memberi kepercayaan penuh pada penjajah Thai.

Rupa-rupa nya pihak Thai tidak senang dengan perkembangan terbaharu ini,terutamanya golongan tentera.Kerana bagi tentera jika Negara aman akan hilanglah sumber pendapatan yang besar bagi Jeneral-jeneral mereka.Selepas itu mereka mula mencipta berbagai masaalah dikawasan Patani. Sehingga lah berlaku pembunuhan beramai-ramai terhadap-pemuda yang hanya bersenjatakan parang didalam masjid kerisik pada April 2004 !! Mereka menyerang masjid dengan disaksikan oleh rakyat Patani disekitar masjid Kerisik!!.Mereka menyerang masjid seolah-olah satu peperangan yang besar untuk membunuh orang-orang yang tak bersenjata.!!!!

Pada bulan oktober 2004 mereka melakukan pembunuhan yang lebih kejam.Pembunuhan dilakukan kan keatas penunjuk-penunjuk perasaan yang hanya inginkan jawapan dari penjajah tentang apa yang berlaku keatas enam orang pengawal kampung yang telah ditangkap beberapa hari sebelumnya. Penunjuk-penunjuk perasaan ini di tindas saperti binatang .Hampir seribu orang telah hilang dalam tunjuk perasaan salama enam jam itu.Berbanding dengan tunjuk perasaan ganas oleh bangsa mereka di Bangkok yang berjalan selama empat bulan hanya beberapa orang sahaja di tembak mati.!!!!

Sejarah tentera Thai ini dari dahulu hingga sekarang tidak pernah melayan orang-orang Patani sabagai manusia.Hampir setiap hari orang-orang yang di syakki sebagai pejuang di culik,samaada dibunuh atau di penjara.

Penderitaan dan penindasan yang dialami oleh penduduk Islam di selatan Thailand telah lama bermula. Pertumpahan darah berlaku hampir setiap hari malah pemerintahan di bawah 5 Perdana Menteri yang berlainan masih tetap gagal menyelesaikan persengketaan yang berlaku.

Wardah bt Abdul Rahman

Aktivis SPAQ

Menilai polisi ganas China terhadap wilayah Xinjiang

Menilai polisi ganas China terhadap wilayah Xinjiang
Oleh : Muhammad Nuruddin Bashah ( Setiausaha Teras Caw Perak)

Menilai rusuhan antara kaum di wilayah Xinjiang yang berlaku baru-baru ini bukan sekadar melihat aspek pertembungan etnik dan kekejaman tangkapan yang dibuat, tetapi menilai satu bentuk penjajahan yang terancang pada tahun 1949 serta melihat secara terperinci agenda demi agenda yang dilakukan oleh pihak China untuk merosakkan struktur masyarakat di wilayah itu dari aspek sosiologi, antropologi dan geopolitik.

6 Julai 2009 menyaksikan hampir 200 rakyat Uygur (bangsa Turkistan Islam) mati ditembak secara rambang oleh polis China apabila rusuhan kaum Uygur berlaku di Urumqi (ibu negeri Xinjiang). Rusuhan ini berlaku akibat pertembungan etnik Uygur dan Han yang telah lama berlaku. Perlu diketahui, Uygur telah dijajah bermula 1949 serta dipaksa menganut komunis serta meninggalkan Islam. Sesiapa yang didapati bersolat akan dikupas kulit kepala, dikupas tapak kaki, dicabut kepala dan kaki menggunakan trak, diseksa di penjara tanpa diberi mandi dan melihat cahaya selama 1-2 tahun serta dimasukkan bom pada kemaluan perempuan berdasarkan pengarang kisah sebenar kekejaman China dalam novel 'Weil China' yang telah diterbitkan oleh PMRAM.

Jika diteliti dalam web-web kerajaan China dan pro China, Xinjiang dikatakan telah berada dalam wilayah China sejak dinasti silam dengan mengenepikan etnik Kazaks dan Uygur sebagai salah satu pencetus ketamadunan Turki pada era Abbasiyyah dan Utmaniyyah. Mereka mendakwa dasar liberal China pada era 1980an telah menjadikan bangsa Uygur ‘naik kepala’ serta mula ingin mengeluarkan wilayah tersebut dari China.

Cendiakawan China juga berpendapat bahawa kehadiran idea Pan-Turki atau Pan Islam oleh Khalifah Utmaniyyah telah menyemarakkan semangat bangsa Uygur untuk bangun menentang ‘kerajaan’ mereka iaitu komunis China.

Menurut tesis Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacyyang disediakan oleh Nancy Eranosian pada 21 Julai 2005, Bangsa Cina Han telah menjadi semakin dominan di Republik Rakyat China dan bilangan mereka semakin bertambah serta menguasai etnik Uyghur yang kemudiannya menjadi minoriti. Bangsa Han memiliki kuasa di China serta melaksanakan pentadbiran di peringkat nasional mahupun di peringkat wilayah-wilayah termasuk di Xinjiang atau lebih baik sahaja disebut sebagai Turkistan Timur. Jawatan terbesar di Xinjiang ini adalah Setiausaha Luar Parti Komunis China yang selalunya berbangsa Han. Penjajahan sosial berlaku lebih teruk apabila bahasa Mandarin diguna secara total di semua sekolah rakyat Uygur serta dinafikan bahasa asal Uygur. Dasar ini berasaskan satu matlamat iaitu menghakis nilai Islam dalam jiwa anak muda Uygur. Buku literasi berbahasa Uygur yang membawa nilai kebangsaan Islam serta nilai agama dibakar besar-besaran pada tahun 2002. Negara jiran China digesa agar membantu Chiana membasmi pejuang pemisah Xinjiang. Media massa saban hari melabelkan bangsa Uygur sebagai bangsa mundur, pemalas dan ganas. Hal inilah yang menimbulkan ketegangan di kalangan rakyat malah diskriminasi bantuan kerajaan berlaku secara berleluasa.

Populasi Xinjiang adalah sekitar 18.5 juta (data tahun 2000). Uygur adalah pribumi asal sebanyak 46.5% populasi manakala Han adalah sebanyak 38.7%. manakala kaum minoriti lain adalah seperti Kazakh, Rusia, Hui (China islam), Mangolia, Uzbek, Tatar, Manchu, Daur dan Xibe.

Sebelum tahun 1949, populasi Uygur adalah sebanyak 75% dan bilangan ini semakin berkurangan akibat polisi China untuk membawa etnik Han menduduki wilayah itu serta mencetuskan kejutan budaya, pertembungan norma sekaligus menghilangkan tradisi Islam di wilayah muslim tersebut.

Polisi China dengan satu kerja komprehensif untuk mensekularkan Uygur, menghapuskan Islam terserlah. Malah China kononnya cuba mengikuti kempen anti pengganas Bush apabila menahan 1300 penduduk Xinjiang menjelang Sukan Olimpik China pada taun 2008. Menurut Procuratorial Daily, tangkapan ‘rahsia’ pihak China adalah bertujuan menjaga keamanan. Siksaan dan deraan yang dilakukan oleh polis China jarang sekali dihebahkan kerana komunis memiliki 1001 cara penyeksaan yang tidak masuk di akal manusia.

Jika dahulu penindasan terhadap etnik ini atas dasar menghapuskan Islam dan mengkomuniskan semua rakyat, hari ini China telah jauh melaksanakan dasar liberalisasi ekonominya seiring kempen Amerika Syarikat sekaligus memerangi ‘pengganas’ sepertimana yang diajar oleh barat. China kini mengalami perkembangan ekonomi terbaik dunia, justeru perlu menghilang semua ketegangan dalamnnya termasuk isu Uygur ini demi menjadi jaguh ekonomi dunia. Di saat Amerika mengalami kejatuhan ekonomi serta kemuflisan beberapa syarikat automotifnya, China kini mengalami kenaikan 36.5% serta diramal oleh pihak Deutsche Bank bakal memegang ekonomi dunia menjelang 2015. Menurut Berita Harian 10 Julai 2009, China bakal mengambil alih Amerika Syarikat dalam perusahaan automobil serta akan terus berkembang. Tidak hairan, polisi China dalam menghadapi golongan pemisah dan kaum minoriti terutama Islam adalah sama sahaja dengan polisi Amerika Syarikat.

Rusuhan di Urumqi, Xinjiang

Penduduk Uyghur Dilarang Tunai Solat Jumaat

Sumber berita : Utusan Online, 11 Julai 2009.

Penduduk Uighur dilarang tunai solat Jumaat

URUMQI 10 Julai - Penduduk Islam di Urumqi tidak dibenarkan menunaikan solat Jumaat hari ini apabila pihak berkuasa China mengarahkan masjid- masjid di ibu kota Xinjiang ini ditutup. Bagaimanapun, beberapa buah masjid akhirnya dibuka untuk solat tersebut, tetapi tidak dapat dipastikan sama ada pihak berkuasa telah menarik balik arahan berkenaan atau masjid itu dibuka kerana desakan orang ramai yang berhimpun di luar masjid. Polis dikerah berkawal untuk mencegah kekacauan etnik daripada meletus semula.

Penduduk Islam Uighur berkata, mereka telah diarah bersembahyang di rumah sementara pasukan bersenjata membanjiri jalan-jalan raya di sini, lima hari selepas pertempuran etnik yang menyebabkan sekurang-kurangnya 156 orang maut. "Kerajaan mengumumkan solat Jumaat tidak akan diadakan hari ini.

"Kami tidak boleh berbuat apa-apa, kerajaan takut penduduk akan menggunakan agama untuk menyokong 'tiga kuasa'," kata seorang lelaki Uighur bernama Tursun di luar masjid Hantagri, antara masjid yang tertua di ibu kota ini, sementara kira-kira 100 anggota polis bersenjatakan mesingan dan belantan berkawal di sekitarnya.

Kerajaan China merujuk 'tiga kuasa' kepada fahaman pelampau, fahaman pemisah dan keganasan. Beijing mendakwa ketiga-tiga kuasa tersebut cuba memisahkan Xinjiang dari bahagian lain negara ini.

Penduduk etnik Uighur yang berjumlah lapan juta di Xinjiang sudah lama mengadu mengalami penindasan agama, politik dan ekonomi di bawah pemerintahan China dan kemarahan yang sudah lama terpendam itu diluahkan pada Ahad lalu dalam bentuk protes yang kemudian bertukar menjadi ganas. Kerajaan China melaporkan 156 orang maut dan lebih 1,000 lagi cedera apabila penduduk Islam Uighur menyerang penduduk daripada kumpulan etnik utama di China, Han.

Namun kaum Uighur berkata, pasukan keselamatan bertindak keterlaluan terhadap protes yang berjalan secara aman.Mereka mendakwa sehingga 800 orang dipercayai terbunuh dalam kekacauan itu, termasuk semasa operasi pasukan keselamatan. - AFP

SHURA demands China to protect rights of indegenous Uighur Muslims

SHURA demands China to protect rights of indegenous Uighur Muslims

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SHURA registers its shock and concern on the recent riot in the Xinjiang Province of West China involving an ethnic clash between the Han Chinese and the Uighur community killing more than 150 people.
The Uighur who are majority Muslims has been the indigenous community of the East Turkestan province and they have for a long while being mistreated by the Beijing regime since China’s occupation of the once independent state in 1949.
The recent clash is a result of the failure of the Chinese authorities to recognise the rights of the Uighur community , by bringing in the Han Chinese to the Xinjiang province creating an uneasy and strain relationship between the communities.
SHURA deplores the inability of the security forces to maintain peace and order and allow the situation to descend into violence of a bloody scale .
As quoted in an article by an historian , Michaiel Dillon “The violence in Xinjiang has not occurred completely out of the blue. Despite economic development, life for some Uighurs is said to be harder .Its root cause is ethnic tension between the Turkic Muslim Uighurs and the Han Chinese. It can be traced back for decades, and even to the conquest of what is now called Xinjiang by the Manchu Qing dynasty in the 18th Century. “
The Uighur Muslim has been under oppression for many years by the Communist regime who has denied the Muslim community to freely exercise their religious practises.
The recent clash was in fact a time bomb waiting to explode when the Uighur community has been cornered to survive under the bias treatment given to the Han Chinese who were brought into the province.
We demand that China grants the Uighur their liberty to practice the Islamic teachings and to treat them with fairness and with equal social and economic opportunities as given to the immigrants of Han Chinese.
The Chinese regime must take note that The Uighur people has been suffering through unjust treatment by the authorities. They have experienced harsher treatment based on religious restriction as compared with other religions.
In the 1940s there was an independent Eastern Turkestan Republic in part of Xinjiang, and many Uighurs feel that this is their birthright.
Instead, they became part of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and Xinjiang was declared one of China’s autonomous regions, in deference to the fact that the majority of the population at the time was Uighur.
This autonomy is not genuine, and – although Xinjiang today has a Uighur governor – the person who wields real power is the regional secretary general of the Chinese Communist Party, Wang Lequan, who is a Han Chinese.
SHURA calls on the Chinese to exercise social and economic justice for the Uighur Muslim community and to refrain from curtailing their religious rights to practice Islam.
Abdul Ghani Samsuddin
Chairman SHURA

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The Uygur Ethnic Group

Maklumat umum etnik Uygur Turkistan di dalam wilayah China menurut perspektif China.

The Uygur Ethnic Group
Population: 8,399,393
Major area of distribution: Xinjiang
Language: Uygur
Religion: Islam



Almost all the Uygurs are found in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region which covers more than 1,709,400 square kilometers or approximately one sixth of China's total landmass, and is by far the biggest of the country's regions and provinces. It occupies much of the sparsely-populated northwest.

Besides the Uygur ethnic group, Han, Kazak, Hui, Mongolian, Kirgiz, Tajik, Xibe, Ozbek, Manchu, Daur, Tatar and Russian people also live in Xinjiang. The Uygurs is the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang. They believe in Islam.

The region is bounded by the Altay Mountains in the north, the Pamirs in the west, the Karakoram Mountains, Altun Mountains and Kunlun Mountains in the south. The Tianshan Mountains divide Xinjiang into northern and southern parts with very different climate and landscape. Southern Xinjiang includes the Tarim Basin and the Taklimakan Desert, China's largest, while northern Xinjiang contains the Junggar Basin, where the Karamay Oilfields and the fertile Ili River valley are situated. The Turpan Basin, the hottest and lowest point in China, lies at the eastern end of the Tianshan Mountains. The Tarim, Yarkant, Yurunkax and Qarran rivers irrigate land around the Tarim Basin, while the Ili, Irtish, Ulungur and Manas rivers flow through arable and pastoral areas in northern Xinjiang. Many of the rivers spill into lakes. The Lop Nur, Bosten (Bagrax), Uliungur and Ebinur lakes teem with fish.

Xinjiang's climate is dry and warm in the south, and cold in the north with plenty rainfall and snow. The Uygurs farm areas around the Tarim Basin and the Gobi Desert. Wheat, maize and paddy rice are the region's main grain crops, and cotton is a major cash crop. Since the 1950s, cotton has been grown in the Manas River valley north of 40 degrees latitude. The Tianshan Mountains are rich in coal and iron, the Altay in gold, and the Kunlun in jade. The region also has big deposits of non-ferrous and rare metals and oil, and rich reserves of forests and land open to reclamation.

History

Xinjiang has been part of China since ancient times. The Uygurs, together with other ethnic groups, opened up the region and have had very close economic and cultural ties with people in other parts of the country, particularly central China.

Xinjiang was called simply "Western Region" in ancient times. The Jiaohe ruins, Gaochang ruins, Yangqi Mansion of "A Thousand Houses," Baicheng (Bay) Kizil Thousand Buddha Grottoes, Bozklik Grottoes in Turpan, Kumtula Grottoes in Kuqa and Astana Tombs in Turpan all contain a great wealth of relics from the Western and Eastern Han dynasties (206 BC-AD 220). They bear witness to the efforts of the Uygurs and other ethnic groups in Xinjiang in developing China and its culture.

Zhang Qian, who lived in the second century BC, went to the Western Region as an official envoy in 138 and 119 BC, further strengthening ties between China and central Asia via the "Silk Road." In 60 BC, Emperor Xuan Di of the Western Han Dynasty established the Office of Governor of the Western Region to supervise the "36 states" north and south of the Tianshan Mountains with the westernmost border running through areas east and south of Lake Balkhash and the Pamirs.

During the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties (220-581) the Western Reigon was a political dependent of the government in central China. The Wei, Western Jin, Earlier Liang (317-376), Earlier Qin (352-394) and Later Liang (386-403) dynasties all stationed troops and set up administrative bodies there. In 327, Zhang Jun of the Earlier Liang Dynasty set up in Turpan the Gao Chang Prefecture, the first of its kind in the region.

In the mid-seventh century, the Tang Dynasty established the Anxi Governor's Office in Xizhou (present-day Turpan, it later moved to Guizi, present-day Kuqa) to rule areas south and north of the Tianshan Mountains. The superintendent's offices in the Pamirs were all under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Governor's Office. In the meantime, four Anxi towns of important military significance – Guizi, Yutian (present-day Hotan), Shule (present-day Kaxgar) and Suiye (on the southern bank of the Chu River) – were established.

In the early eighth century, the Tang Dynasty added Beiting Governor's Office in Tingzhou (present-day Jimsar). The Beiting and Anxi offices, with an administrative and military system under them, implemented effectively the Tang government's orders.

In the early 13th century, Genghis Khan (1162-1227) appointed a senior official in the region. The Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) established Bieshibali (present-day areas north of Jimsar) and Alimali (present-day Korgas) provinces. The Hami Military Command was set up during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) the northern part of the Western Region, namely, north of Irtish River and Zaysan Lake, was under Zuo Fu General's Office in Wuliyasu. The General's Office in Ili exercised power over areas north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, east and south of Lake Balkhash and the Pamirs. Xinjiang was made a province in 1884, the 10th year of the reign of Emperor Guang Xu.

Uygur means "unity" or "alliance." The origin of the ethnic group can be traced back to the Dingling nomads in northern and northwestern China and in areas south of Lake Baikal and between the Irtish River and Lake Balkhash in the third century B.C. Some people maintain that the forefathers of the Uygurs were related to the Hans. The Dingling were later called the Tiele, Tieli, Chile or Gaoche (high wheel). The Yuanhe tribe reigned supreme among the Gaoche tribes during the fifth century A.D., and the Weihe among the Tiele during the seventh century. Several tribes rallied behind the Weihe to resist Turkic oppression.

These ancient Uighur people were finally conquered by Turkic Kirghiz in the mid-ninth century. The majority of the Uighurs, who were scattered over many areas, moved to the Western Region under the Anxi Governor's Office, and areas west of Yutian. Some went to the Tufan principality in western Gansu Province. The Uighurs who settled in the Western Region lived commingled with Turkic nomads in areas north of the Tianshan Mountains and western pasturelands as well as with Hans, who had emigrated there after the Western and Eastern Han dynasties. They intermarried with people in southern Xinjiang and Tibetan, Qidan (Khitan) and Mongol tribes, and evolved into the group now known as the Uygurs.

The Uygurs made rapid socio-economic and cultural progress between the ninth and the 12th centuries. Nomadism gave way to settled farming. Commercial and trade ties with central China began to thrive better than ever before. Through markets, they exchanged horses, jade, frankincense and medicines for iron implements, tea, silk and money. With the feudal system further established, a land and animal owners' class came into being, comprising Uygur khans and Bokes (officials) at all levels. After Islam was introduced to Kaxgar in the late 10th century, it gradually extended its influence to Shache (Yarkant) and Yutian, and later in the 12th century to Kuya and Yanqi, where it replaced Shamanism, Manichae, Jingism (Nestorianism, introduced to China during the Tang Dynasty), Ao'ism (Mazdaism) and Buddhism, which had been popular for hundreds of years. Western Region culture developed quickly, with Uygur, Han, Sanskrit, Cuili and Poluomi languages, calendars and painting styles being used. Two major centers of Uygur culture and literature – Turpan in the north and Kaxgar in the south – came into being. The large number of government documents, religious books and folk stories of this period are important works for students of the Uygur history, language and culture.

In the early 12th century, part of the Qidan tribe moved westward from north-east China under the command of Yeludashi. They toppled the Hala Khanate established by the Uygurs, Geluolu and other Turkic tribes in the 10th century, and founded the Hala Khanate of Qidan (Black Qidan), or Western Liao as it is now referred to by historians. The state of Gao Chang became its vassal state. After the rise of the Mongols, most of Xinjiang became the territory of the Jagatai Khanate. In the meantime, when many Hans were sent to areas either south or north of the Tianshan Mountains to open up waste land, many Uygurs moved to central China. The forefathers of the Uygurs and Huis in Changde and Taoyuan counties in Hunan Province today moved in that exodus. The Uygurs exercised important influence over politics, economy, culture and military affairs. Many were appointed officials by the Yuan court and, under the impacts of the Han culture, some became outstanding politicians, military strategists, writers, historians and translators.

The Uygur areas from Hami in the east to Hotan in the south were unified into a greater feudal separatist Kaxgar Khanate after more than two centuries of separatism and feuding from the late 14th century. As the capital was moved to Yarkant, it was also known as the Yarkant Khanate. Its rulers were still the offspring of Jagatai. During the early Qing period, the Khanate was a tributary of the imperial court and had commercial ties with central China. After periods of unsteady relations with the Ming Dynasty, the links between the Uygurs and ethnic groups in central China became stronger. Gerdan, chief of Dzungaria in northern Xinjiang, toppled the Yarkant Khanate in 1678 and ruled the Uygur area. The Qing army repelled in 1757 (the 22nd year of the reign of Emperor Qian Long) the separatist rebellion by the Dzungarian nobles instigated by the Russian Tsar, and in 1759 smashed the "Batu Khanate" founded by Poluonidu and Huojishan, the Senior and Junior Khawaja, in a separatist attempt.

The Qing government introduced a system of local military command offices in Xinjiang. It appointed the General in Ili as the highest Western Regional Governor of administrative and military affairs over northern and southern Xinjiang and the parts of Central Asia under Qing influence and the Kazak and Blut (Kirgiz) tribes. For local government, a system of prefectures and counties was introduced.

The imperial court began to appoint and remove local officials rather than allowing them to pass on their titles to their children. This weakened to some degree the local feudal system. The court also encouraged the opening up of waste land by garrison troops and local peasants, the promotion of commerce and the reduction of taxation, which were important steps in the social development of Uygur areas.

Xinjiang was completely under Qing Dynasty rule after the mid-18th century. Although political reforms had limited the political and economic privileges of the feudal Bokes (lords), and taxation was slightly lower, the common ethnic people's living standards did not change significantly for the better. The Qing officials, through local Bokes, exacted taxes even on "garden trees." The Bokes expanded ownership on land and serfs, controlled water resources and manipulated food grain prices for profit.

Harsh feudal rule and exploitation gave rise to the six-month-long Wushi (Uqturpan) uprising in 1765, the first armed rebellion by the Uygur people against feudalism. With the aim of preserving their rule and getting rid of Qing control, Uygur feudal owners made use of struggles between religious factions to whip up nationalism and cover up the worsening class contradictions. Zhangger, grandson of the Senior Khawaja, a representative of those owners, under the banner of religion and armed with British-supplied weapons, harassed southern Xinjiang many times from 1820 to 1828, but failed to win military victory.

Uprisings and foreign intervention

Not long after the outbreak of the Opium War, the Uygurs and Huis in Kuqa, influenced by rebellions of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Army uprisings by ethnic minority peasants in Yunnan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, launched an armed uprising in 1864. People in Urumqi, Shache (Yarkant), Ili, Barkol, Qitai, Hami, Mori, Jimsar and Changji responded. Uprisings against the Qing court swept Xinjiang, and several separatist regimes came into being. However, a handful of national and religious upper elements usurped the fruits of the uprisings under the cloak of "ethnic interest" and "religion," and became self-styled kings or khans. The warfare that ensued among them brought still greater catastrophes to the local people.

Britain fostered Yukub Beg, the General Commander of the Kokand Khanate in 1865, who invaded Xinjiang and established the Zhedsar Khanate (Seven-City Khanate). Yukub Beg was a tool in the hands of Britain and Tsarist Russia, who wanted to split Xinjiang. He exercised cruel rule and, in the name of Allah, killed 40,000 non-Muslims in southern Xinjiang. His persecution was also extended to Islamic believers, who were tried at unfair "religious courts." The local people had to shoulder the war burdens, supplying warring factions with food grain, fuel, vehicles and draught animals, and the local economy suffered catastrophic damage. Bankrupt peasants fled, and some had to sell their children for a living. The slave trade boomed at local bazaars.

To preserve Russia's vested interest and maintain an equilibrium in influence with Britain in Central Asia, the Tsar, behind the back of the Qing Court, signed illegal commercial and trade treaties with Yukub Beg. Russia claimed that it could not "sit idle" while there were uprisings in the provinces in western China, and in the name of "recovery and defense upon request," it sent troops to occupy Ili in 1871 and started a 10-year period of colonial rule. The Russian troops forced people of the Uygur, Kazak, Hui, Mongolian and Xibe tribes into designated zones in a "divide and rule" policy. Many Uygurs had to flee their home towns, and moved to Huicheng and Dongshan.

It was in the interest of all ethnic groups to smash the Yukub Beg regime and recover Ili. So many local people supported the Qing troops when they overthrew Yukub Beg and recovered Xinjiang in 1877. However, not long after the Qing government had signed the "Sino-Russian Treaty of Peking" and the "Tahcheng Protocol on the Delimitation of the Sino-Russian Border," whereby China was compelled to cede 440,000 square kilometers of land to Russia, the Qing Court again concluded the "Ili Treaty" with Russia in 1881. Although China recovered Ili, it lost another 70,000 square kilometers of territory west of the Korgas River, and was charged nine million roubles compensation. On the eve of its withdrawal from Ili, Tsarist Russia coerced more than 10,000 Uygur, Hui, Mongolian, Kazak and Kirgiz people to move to Russia. Farmland, irrigation facilities, houses and orchards were devastated and food grain and animals looted. Five of nine cities in Ili became virtually ruins, and the Uygurs in the nine townships on the right bank of the Ili River were reduced to poverty.

The Qing government decided to make the Western Region – formerly ruled by the general stationed in Ili – a province named Xinjiang, a step of important significance for local development and the strengthening of the north-west border defense against imperialist aggression. Ties between the area and central China became closer, and there was greater unity between the Uygurs and other ethnic groups in the common struggle against imperialism and feudalism.

After the Revolution of 1911 which overthrew the Qing Dynasty, Qing rule was replaced by feudal warlords. Sheng Shicai, who claimed to be progressive, usurped power in Xinjiang in the "April 12" coup of 1933.

In the same year, Britain encouraged Mohamed Imin, who dreamed of a greater Turkey, to found the Hotan Islamic Republic, and Maula Shabitida, an advocate of greater Islam, to set up the East Turkistan Islamic Republic. Japanese imperialism in 1937 masterminded the plots by Mamti and Raolebas to form an "independent" Islamic state, and Mamti, in collaboration with Mahushan, rebelled. However, all these separatist efforts failed.

Contemporary history

In 1933, when China was at a crucial point in history, the Chinese Communist Party began revolutionary activities in Xinjiang aimed at peace, democracy and progress. Sheng Shicai had to take some progressive steps, and declared six major policies -- anti-imperialism, amity with the Soviet Union, national equality, honest government, peace and national reconstruction. In the same year, the "Anti-Imperialist Association of the People of Xinjiang" was formed, and the journal, "Anti-Imperialist Front," was published. Part of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army went to Xinjiang in 1937. Later Sheng Shicai turned to the Kuomintang, persecuting the Communists, progressive people, patriotic youth and workers.

The Kuomintang began to rule Xinjiang in 1944, forcing sharper contradictions on the Uygurs and other ethnic groups. It exacted dozens of taxes under all kinds of pretexts. One example was the taxation on land. An average peasant had to pay well over 15 percent of annual income for it. The amount of taxes in terms of money was eight times the sum in 1937. Local industry and commerce virtually went bankrupt, and the situation for rural Uygurs was even worse.

Uprisings took place in Ili, Tacheng and Altay to oppose Kuomintang rule. They served to accelerate the liberation of the region in the national liberation war.

Tao Zhiyue, the Commandant of the Kuomintang Xinjiang Garrison, and Burhan Shahidi, Chairman of the Kuomintang Xinjiang Provincial Government, accepted Chinese Communist Party's peace terms, and revolted against the Kuomintang government in Nanjing, and Xinjiang was peacefully liberated in October, 1949.

Post-liberation development

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was formally established on October 1, 1955. Five autonomous prefectures and six autonomous counties were set up in the following months. Ethnic minority autonomy became a reality.

Customs and habits

In the past, many poor Uygur farmers lived on a diet of narrow-leaved oleaster and dried apricot and peach, mulberry and grain porridge. Now, wheat flour, rice and maize are the staple foods. Uygurs in some areas like milk tea with baked maize or wheat cakes. Some are made by mixing flour with sugar, eggs, butter or meat and are delicious. Paluo (sweet rice), cooked with mutton, sheep fat, carrots, raisins, onions and rice, is an important festival food for guests.

The Uygurs' cotton growing and cotton yarn spinning industry has a long history. Working people usually wear cotton cloth garments. Men sport a long gown called a qiapan, which opens on the right and has a slanted collar. It is buttonless and is bound by a long square cloth band around the waist. Women wear broad-sleeved dresses and black waist coats with buttons sewn on the front. Some now like to wear Western-style suits and skirts. The Uygurs, old and young, men and women, like to wear a small cap with four pointed corners, embroidered with black and white or colored silk threads in traditional Uygur designs. The women's favorite decorations include earrings, bracelets and necklaces. Some paint their eyebrows and fingernails on grand festive occasions. Girls in the past combed their hair into a dozen pigtails, and regarded long hair as part of female beauty. After marriage, they usually wear two pigtails with loose ends, decorated on the head with a crescent-shaped comb. Some tuck up their pigtails into a bun.

Over the centuries, many mosques, mazas (Uygur complexes, nobles' tombs), theological seminaries and religious courts were set up in Uygur areas. Over the past few hundred years, religion has greatly influenced economic, judicial and educational affairs and the Uygur family and matrimonial system. Some of the rich people made use of religious rules to marry more than one wife, and had the right to divorce them at any time. The marriage of the ordinary Uygurs was mostly arranged by the parents. Male chauvinism was practiced in the family, and Uygur women, humiliated and with nobody to turn to, often retreated into prayer.

After 1949, feudal religious privileges were abolished, and religion was taken out of the control of the reactionary ruling class, and became a matter of individual conscience. As science and knowledge spread, many of the old feudalistic religious habits lost popularity. People can now decide for themselves whether the Sawm should be observed during Ramadan, how many naimazi (services) should be performed in a day and whether women in the street should wear veils.

As these matters do not affect normal religious belief, the Uygurs are beginning to enjoy a more genuine religious freedom. The family, marriage and property are under the protection of the law, and Uygur women enjoy equality with men. Many are now working alongside men in modern industries.

There are now more than a dozen million Moslems in the country, compared with eight million in the early post-1949 period. In 1953, the Chinese Islamic Association was established with Burhan Shahidi as its chairman. More than seven million people in Xinjiang believe in Islam, accounting for well over half of the national total. In the mid-1080s, there were 15,800 religious professionals, about 2,000 of whom were either deputies to the People's Congress or the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at various levels, or worked in the regional or county branches of the Chinese Islamic Association. The region now boasts a total of 15,500 mosques or prayer centers, or one for almost every Moslem village.

Culture since the mid-20th century

Uygur culture and art, which have a long and rich tradition, has flourished. Uygur literature is very rich in style and subject matter. Many folk tales, parables, comedies, poems and proverbs praise the courage, wisdom and kindness of the ordinary people, while satirizing the greed, cruelty and foolishness of the exploiting classes. For instance, "The Tales of Afandi" contain stinging satire about the Bayis and Imams who bully the people.

Much of the written Uygur literature has been passed down from the 11th century, such as the epic "Kutadolu Biliq" (Blessings and Wisdom) by Yusuf Hass Hajib, and The Turkic Dictionary by Mohamu Kashgar, which are important works for students of ancient Uygur history, culture and language. More modern works include Maulabilalibin Maulayusuf's Wars on the Chinese Land, an epic describing the 1864 struggle of the Uygurs in Ili against the Qing government. Mutalifu, the patriotic and revolutionary poet, composed poems such as "Chinese Guerrillas," "Militant Girls" and "Love and Hatred" during the Anti-Japanese War. After 19949, much work has been done to collect, compile and publish classic and folk Uygur literature.

The Uygurs are excellent at dancing. The "12 Mukams" (opera) is an epic comprising more than 340 classic songs and folk dances. After liberation, this musical treasure, which was on the verge of being lost, was collected, studied and recorded. The "Daolang Mukams," popular in Korla, Bachu (Maralwexi), Markit and Ruoqiang (Qarkilik), is another suite with distinct Uygur flavor.

There is a wide variety of plucked, wind and percussion Uygur musical instruments, including the dutar, strummed rawap and dap. The first two are instruments with a clear and crisp tone for solo and orchestral performances. The dap is a sheepskin tambourine with many small iron rings attached to the rim. It is used to accompany dancing.

The Uygur dances, such as the "Bowls-on-Head Dance," "Drum Dance," "Iron Ring Dance" and "Puta Dance," feature light, graceful and quick-swinging choreography movements. The "Sainaim Dance" is the most popular, while the "Duolang Dance," sometimes referred to as a flower of Uygur folk culture, brims over with vitality. It depicts the hunting activities of the ancient people of Markit. The movements portray strength, wildness and enthusiasm. The "Nazilkum," popular in Turpan, Shanshan and Hami, fully reflects the Uygurs' optimism and gift for humor.

(China.org.cn June 21, 2005)

Wilayah Xinjiang Bergolak Lagi

Sumber berita : Berita Harian Online, 7 Julai 2009

140 maut rusuhan penduduk Muslim Uighur di Xinjiang

BERIBU-RIBU penduduk Muslim Uighur merusuh di Urumqi kelmarin dalam ketegangan etnik paling buruk di China dalam masa beberapa dekad.

Polis dituduh lepaskan tembakan membabi buta URUMQI: Sekurang-kurangnya 140 maut apabila penduduk Islam Uighur merusuh di wilayah Xinjiang dalam ketegangan etnik paling buruk di negara itu dalam masa beberapa dekad. Keganasan di ibu kota wilayah itu, Urumqi, kelmarin membabitkan beribu-ribu orang, kata agensi berita Xinhua melaporkan angka kematian berkemungkinan meningkat. Lebih 800 lagi cedera dalam kejadian itu. "Angka kematian di Xinjiang meningkat kepada 140 dan masih bertambah," menurut Xinhua dalam laporan terbaru, selepas pada awalnya berkata cuma tiga maut.

Agensi berita berkenaan, memetik kenyataan pegawai kerajaan tempatan, menyatakan 'beratus-ratus' sudah pun ditahan kerana pembabitan dalam keganasan itu. Rangkaian televisyen CCTV menyiarkan rakaman dramatik menunjukkan perusuh menterbalikkan kereta polis dan memecahkan tingkapnya, seorang wanita ditendang ketika terbaring di atas tanah dan bas serta kenderaan lain terbakar. "Semua pemilik kedai di sini amat takut," kata seorang pemilik bar berketurunan Han yang enggan dikenali kepada AFP.

Dia menganggarkan kira-kira 3,000 perusuh Uighur, sebahagian daripada mereka bersenjata belantan kayu dan pisau. Kerajaan wilayah Xinjiang menyalahkan rusuhan itu ke atas Rebiya Kadeer, pemimpin Uighur yang tinggal dalam buangan di Amerika Syarikat, kerana mendalangi ketegangan berkenaan. "Siasatan awal menunjukkan keganasan didalangi pemisah Kongres Uighur Sedunia diketuai Rebiya Kadeer," meurut kenyataan kerajaan yang dipetik Xinhua. Bagaimanapun, kumpulan etnik Uighur dalam buangan, yang sudah lama menentang pemerintahan China di Xinjiang, menuduh pasukan keselamatan bertindak keterlaluan dalam menyuraikan bantahan aman oleh beribu-ribu penduduk, dan berkata polis melepaskan tembakan membabi buta.

Polis pencegah rusuhan dan pasukan keselamatan lain bersenjatakan mesingan dan membawa perisai dilihat di Urumqi semalam, menghalang bantahan selanjutnya, kata wartawan AFP di tempat kejadian. Trak yang membawa anjing polis turut dibawa ke Urumqi dan sebahagian besar kawasan Islam itu ditutup, katanya. Seorang pelancong Amerika memberitahu dia terdengar bunyi tembakan ketika keganasan merebak. "Saya dengar bunyi tembakan dan melihat polis, kereta perisai putih, dua bas dipenuhi tentera dan trak hijau tentera yang diselimuti kanvas bergerak," katanya. – AFP