China, Uighurs offer different account of deadly shooting

[Ershad]

China, Uighurs offer different account of deadly shooting​

By Chi-Chi Zhang, CNN

Chinese Uighurs sell pomegranates in Pishan, Xinjiang, in a file photo from 2006​

Beijing (CNN) -- Chinese officials said they killed seven members of the Uighur ethnic group in the restive western region of Xinjiang in order to free two hostages -- an account the Uighurs disputed.

The hostages -- local villagers looking for their lost sheep in the rural county of Pishan outside of Hotan city-- were kidnapped by a group of Uighurs on Wednesday night, said Hou Hanmin, a spokeswoman for the chief of the regional information office in Xinjiang.

The operation to rescue them left one police officer dead and wounded another, he said.

However, Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the Stockholm-based World Uighur Congress, said the shooting did not stem from a rescue operation.

Police opened fire when locals clashed with officers during a demonstration outside the police bureau, he said. The Uighurs were protesting a recent security crackdown in Hotan city.

"This is incident was not an accident," he said. "It is a direct result from the Chinese crackdown on Uighurs. It has become unbearable for Uighurs there to accept the oppression and current rule from the Chinese government."

The Chinese authorities have often blamed militants of Uighur descent for outbreaks of violence in Xinjiang in recent years. Uighurs are ethnic Turks who are linguistically, culturally and religiously distinct from China's majority Han population.

Beijing has said Uighur militants are often based overseas and has linked some of them to the East Turkistan Islamic Movement that allegedly trains in Pakistan.

The clash comes after a two-month security crackdown, which ended in October, against violence, terrorism and radical Islam across the resource-rich region, which borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and numerous unstable Central Asian states.

The tightened security measures included 24-hour security patrols of troubled areas, identity checks and random street searches of people and vehicles.

Uighur activists say the crackdowns have only heightened anger among Uighurs who already accuse the government of religious and political repression. Uighurs also say they feel economically disadvantaged as a thriving Han population continues to move into the region.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/29/world/asia/china-hostage-rescue/index.html

 

[Aapa]

Assalaam walaikum,

Thank you for posting this. We forget how much our brothers and sisters have to suffer. I was thinking of last Ramadan and how the government made it next to impossible to attend the masjids. How the Uighurs hold onto faith. I am humbled.

 

[elqouds2020]

ma chaa ellah bonne appetie

 

[elqouds2020]

essallamou allaikoum soeur Aapa vous avez unbon coeur pour l'umanité de ces povreux chinoi que dieu vous donne el iman wa tkwa

 

[elqouds2020]

Assalaam walaikum,

Thank you for posting this. We forget how much our brothers and sisters have to suffer. I was thinking of last Ramadan and how the government made it next to impossible to attend the masjids. How the Uighurs hold onto faith. I am humbled.

Assalamou alaykoum soeur Aapa Vous AVEZ Un bon coeur versez L'Humanité de CES povreux Chinoi Que Dieu Vous Donne el Iman wa takwa

 

[strive-may-i]

Assalaam walaikum,

Thank you for posting this. We forget how much our brothers and sisters have to suffer. I was thinking of last Ramadan and how the government made it next to impossible to attend the masjids. How the Uighurs hold onto faith. I am humbled.

:salam2:
There is hope, If we are to believe the last article I read on china, the polity and religion. Young party bearers it seems had an open debate, where there was a greater support to let the party workers to have a religious belief. The argument was that the belief in god fulfills a higher personal need, it should be allowed, materialistic approach to uplift a human society is not the answer (the communist party founder modelled it for materialistic goals. A part worker cannot have religious belief is the rule.) Lets just hope the rule changes, thereby bringing in much needed respite to Muslims in China... Ameen!