an inter press service feature
by nadira artykova
alma-ata, kazakhstan, aug 28 (ips) - a number of political parties
here have become increasingly militant in their desire to protect
the indigenous uighur people in the xinjiang autonomous region of
central asia from becoming subject to complete chinese control.
the largest such grouping is the 'committee for eastern
turkistan' which is probably the most radical national movement in
central asia.
it was originally formed by uighur guerrillas who used to fight
against the chinese in the period of 1944-1949 when the uighur
lands were known as east turkistan.
the 'committee' has recently become more militant and has vowed
to intensify their struggle in a bid to free xinjiang from growing
chinese influence.
''we have decided to stop wasting time and switch to a real
struggle,'' said taynutdin basakov, a 60-year-old kazi at a local
uighur mosque here in alma-ata, kazakhstan. he is also co-chairman
of the committee. the uighur people have always drifted into other
countries in central asia.
basakov claimed that the committee had not been allowed to be
registered by the kazakh justice ministry and consequently had to
act illegally. it claims to have a list of several thousand
volunteers ready to fight against the chinese in xinjiang.
''we are here in kazakhstan only on a temporary basis,'' said
basakov. ''beijing has been keeping our lands in a tight grip just
like moscow did with the soviet republics.''
basakov and his co-leader of the 'committee for eastern
turkistan' yusuf mukhlisi have claimed their organisation
supported a raid on a kashgar military warehouse last june.
the committee is publishing its own newspaper and distributing it
in central asia, xinjiang, germany and turkey. ''the uighur
communities of these countries are supporting us in different
ways,'' said mukhlisi.
the uighurs are probably the most ancient turkic-muslim people
and traditionally known for their skills as farmers and
cultivators. in 1749 the chinese-manchurian conquerers occupied
the territory of uighurstan which later became the xinjiang
autonomous region.
since that time the uighurs have constantly been in revolt
against chinese power in xinjiang. these revolt have occurred more
than 400 times so far.(more/ips)
xinjiang: uighur people seek independence from chinese influence(2)
one great and bloody revolt broke out in 1828-1832 in southern
uighurstan but it was eventually suppressed by the chinese and
almost 100,000 uighur families were forced to migrate to the
fergana valley of uzbekistan.(more/ips)
another 80,000 uighurs were compelled to live in kazakhstan in
1881 after the russian invasion of xinjiang. the latest uprising
of the uighurs against the chinese took place in 1944 with the
military and ideological support of stalin's government. as a
result an independent east turkistan republic was proclaimed.
in 1949 the uighur government was overthrown by military
intervention and political intrigues of the former soviet union
and china. as a result the original uighur territory of 1.7
million square kilometeres became xinjiang -- which conveniently
means 'north border' in mandarin chinese.
''our nation has almost vanished as a result of the genocide of
the chinese communists,'' stated hashir vakhidov, the leader of
the underground militant party the 'uighurstan society for
freedom' which has a membership of 7,000 members.
''in 1849 when large numbers of han chinese began to arrive in
the uighur lands the uighurs totalled 79 percent of the
population. this later became 46 percent as a result of han
chinese immigration,'' said vakhidov, who used to be a commander
of a guerrilla group in the 1944-1949 uighur uprising. he had to
leave for khazakstan in 1952.
besides chinese colonisation the uighur movement in central asia
has been spurred by the politically motivated chinese birth
control policy which includes female sterilisation.
''it is against islamic rules. who gave the chinese the right to
limit our small nation,'' said vakhidov..
as a result of the birth control policy many uighur women in
xinjiang have to bear their extra children illegally and bring
them them to kazakhstan where there is now a uighur community of
300,000.
''the chinese have also brought nuclear weapons to our mother
land causing environmental diasaster and killing thousands of
people,'' said vakhidov in reference to the nuclear testing
facility of lap-nor located in xinjiang.
lap nor is the only test site that has never announced a
moratorium on nuclear testing. the uighur political activists
widely exploit the idea of china's military intentions to persuade
central asian leaders to join them in their struggle.
kazakhstan, kirgizstan, uzbekistan and tajikstan share the border
with china to the west.(more/ips)
xinjiang: uighur people seek independence from chinese influence(3-e)
''it is quite impossible to seal up an entire border of 3,700
kms. central asia is called the 33rd province in china. the
chinese would like to conquer central asia sooner or later,'' said
vakhidov.
''until uighurstan is liberated central asia cannot survive
without fear,'' said basakov. so far there has been no complaint
from the uighurs towards their enforced life in kazakhstan where
they now have access to 24 uighur schools.
although they also have a couple of uighur newspapers, uighur
broadcasting and theatres the uighurs appear spiritually to be
looking forward to the day they can return to a free uighurstan.
''they believe that it is high time to restore our motherland
and we are asking for a u.n. resolution to create an independent
state of uighurstan,'' said vakhidov, whose organisation had been
already been in touch with the united nations and governments of
66 different countries.(end/ips/rp/na/mf/93)
----
[c] 1993, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)
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