By Jai Kumar Verma
http://www.eurasiareview.com/25102014-terrorism-chinas-xinjiang-region-escalating-analysis/
The strength of Islamic terrorist organizations is escalating in Xinjiang region of China.
Several Uyghur outfits, including East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), East Turkistan Liberation Organization (ETLO), United Revolutionary Front of East Turkestan (URFET), and the Uyghur Liberation Organization (ULO) carried out several terrorist incidents despite the ruthless repression by authorities of People’s Republic of China (PRC). Besides these organisations, there are a few more Uyghur terrorist outfits and their splinter groups.
The aim of ETIM is the creation of an Islamic state with the name of Uyghuristan or Eastern Turkistan and to convert all Chinese into Islam. ETIM was declared a terrorist organisation by United States of America, Pakistan and a few more countries.
The majority inhabitants of Xinjiang region are Uyghur Muslims who are closer to the residents of Central Asia than Han Chinese. In fact, in 1933-34 Uyghur Muslims had established an independent Islamic state although for a short duration. Now PRC is making an attempt to settle more and more Han Chinese to change the demography of the region.
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan gave asylum to Uyghur separatists. However, China signed treaties with these countries and they not only stopped helping the Uyghurs, but also extradited Uyghur separatists residing in their areas.
Uyghur Muslims affirm that Chinese are exploiting their mineral wealth and want to exterminate their culture, language, religion and separate identity. Hence some Uyghurs advocate the need for a sovereign state while a few groups are for an autonomous state so that their special entity can be retained. The Muslims allege that the Chinese authorities do not allow them to perform their religious rituals.
The Chinese security personnel launched search operations in Xinjiang region even in the pious month of Ramadan, where only houses of Muslims were searched; ladies wearing veils and men having beards were questioned and young Muslims were detained, interrogated and searched. In the month of Ramadan Muslims were compelled to break the fast.
These and several other restrictions have generated animosity in Uyghur Muslims and there were violent demonstrations in several cities, including Elishku and Alaqagha. In March 2014, the Islamic radicals slaughtered 29 people with knives at Kunming railway station, while in May they killed at least 31 people in a shopping area in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province.
On July 28, Muslims attacked a police station in Elishku with knives and sticks. Chinese security agencies claim that the crowd after attacking the police station raided the houses and shops of Han Chinese and killed more than 30 people. According to authorities, police resorted to firing in which more than 60 activists were killed. However, according to independent sources the death toll was more than 100. The list of violent incidents is very long despite the suppression of news and banning of international and local media from reporting.
Chinese authorities allege that Muslim extremists as well as countries inimical to China are disseminating Wahhabi Islam in this region. They are spreading fabricated stories of Chinese repression and discrimination. These forces use the internet to propagate fundamentalism and separatism among Uyghur Muslims. Chinese allege that Alim Seytoff, president of the Uyghur American Association based in Washington DC, is also behind spreading mischievous information.
ETIM and other Uyghur outfits get financial assistance and training from various terrorist groups including Al Qaeda. These terrorist outfits are active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan also assists these radical organisations.
The Uyghur terrorist groups also contacted the Islamic State (IS) of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to get assistance against the Chinese government. China figures in the shortlist of countries prepared by Baghdadi where Muslims are “persecuted”. At present IS is attracting Muslim fighters from all over the world, and according to a report more than 200 Chinese Muslims have already joined IS and several others may follow. Chinese authorities are worried that once these Muslims return to China they will spread terrorism and fundamentalism in the country.
China pursues a very stringent policy against terrorism, separatism and religious fundamentalism. They are considered as a grave threat not only to the peace and tranquillity of the nation but also viewed as a formidable danger to national security and stability. The Human Rights Organisations, including Amnesty International, allege that Chinese are persecuting religious dissidents, especially Uyghur Muslims, under the garb of anti-terrorism operations.
Chinese authorities want to crush the Uyghur movement as they visualize that very soon various Islamic terrorist groups will enhance their assistance to Uyghur terrorist outfits. In this way not only will the issue get international recognition but it may escalate to Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
According to a report, the Chinese government has sent more than 200,000 Communist Party workers in the area, and $2 million would be spent on collecting intelligence about Uyghur Muslim extremist organizations and their leaders. The authorities would install electronic gadgets, including cameras, and also resort to intense house searches, checking of vehicles and strangers in the area. Mosques and other religious places would also be searched.
Several underground mosques are operating in Muslim majority areas. Chinese security forces allege that these underground mosques render shelter to terrorists. Muslims who come back from Haj also spread fundamentalism in the region.
Uyghur Muslims say that unemployment, discrimination, corruption and high handedness of the Chinese authorities are mainly responsible for the rise of Islamic extremism and terrorism. Uyghurs face discrimination in the whole of China as they are considered second grade citizens in their own country and it increases their frustration. Analysts believe that as there is no freedom of expression Muslims of the region are adopting radical Islam, and in turn terrorism.
The experts of Uyghur region point out that Chinese should stop repression and give some more religious liberty to the residents of this area otherwise terrorism would increase, and several Islamic terrorist groups which are operating in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan would render financial assistance and training to Uyghur extremists. Several Muslim countries would extend financial assistance to Uyghur fanatics, and there is no dearth of fundamentalist material on the internet.
The Chinese government machinery fabricates figures and publicizes about the establishment of trade and industry and large-scale improvement in infrastructure of the region, but fictitious figures do not satisfy the Muslim residents of the region. The Chinese government should invest in the region as mere lip service would not suffice.
China has emerged as a big economic power hence most of the countries do not want to antagonize PRC by assisting the Uyghur separatist movement. Besides, several South Asian and Central Asian countries are worried about the spread of Muslim fundamentalism. These countries do not want breakup or any political instability in China.
Uyghurs have to resort to large-scale terrorist activities to attract world attention. China must realize that it is a homegrown pro-independence movement, started because of discrimination and exploitation of the Uyghurs, and it has very little support from outside. It may not pose a major danger to the unity of a big and powerful country like China at the moment, but if Beijing does not take remedial measures to redress the grievances of Uyghur Muslims this independence movement will not only grow in Xinjiang region but also spread to other areas. At present majority of Uyghurs do not want to establish an independent Islamic state, but time and thinking change very fast.
(Jai Kumar Verma is a Delhi-based strategic analyst. He can be contacted atsouthasiamonitor1@gmail.com)
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