Let better sense prevail in Xinjiang

 

Last week's terrorist attacks on ordinary people in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region seem to be the handiwork of some extremists who, over the years, have corrupted some Xinjiang people with their doctrine and even trained a few to carry out terrorist attacks.

The most horrifying aspect of the attacks was the deaths of 24 innocents, including 16 Uygurs. Such heinous attacks on any ethnic group are dastardly acts that deserve to be strongly condemned.

So who is the real target of these terrorists? And what do they want? The terrorist attacks in recent years have misled the world to believe that the Chinese government is blind to the poverty in remote regions and does not care about ethnic groups floundering in underdevelopment and misery. We who live and work in China know that this is not true. But the need is to let the rest of the world know the reality.

Since Uygurs are Muslims, and Muslim extremists often lead such violent attacks, Muslims across the world end up getting a bad name and becoming the target of other people's hatred. If the extremists who resort to violence really love their people, they should stop tarnishing the image of their fellow believers.

I have traveled across China, from North to South and from West to East. In 2007, I interviewed about 50 people of different ages, ethnic groups, cultural backgrounds and areas of activity for my book, These Wonderful People of Xinjiang - which is not only the title of a book but also a declaration of love.

When I asked Tusipbek, a Kazak photographer, what was the relationship among the different ethnic groups of Xinjiang like, he laughed and asked me how could I think there was a problem. "We are one family", said Tusipbek, who is fluent in Kazak, Chinese, Uygur and Mongolian languages.

Wu Mingzhu, a Han researcher on Hami melon, was born in Hubei province. During her long career of research into the melon, which gets its name from Xinjiang's Hami prefecture, she has been to many developed and attractive places but has never thought of settling anywhere other than the region. "I'm rooted in Xinjiang", she said, how can any place be better than Xinjiang.

I have been to Xinjiang several times, and each time I saw a "different" image of the place thanks to its fast economic development. During one such trip, I talked with Abdurakip, a respected imam, who said: "The role of an imam is to set an example for Muslims." Born into a rural family, he attended a Chinese-medium school but couldn't pass the national college entrance exam in 1979. His mother, though disappointed, was determined to make a useful man out of her son. "So when Deng Xiaoping, the engineer of reform and opening-up, declared that religious belief is a human right and a matter of personal choice, and that religious practice must be protected by the Chinese Constitution, I decided (with the help of my mother) to throw myself into the study of Islamic texts and become an imam to serve my people."

"We no longer live in the times of the 'cultural revolution' (1966-76) when religion was one of the old ideas that China had to get rid of," he said, reflecting the change in Uygur people's thinking.

Islam is a religion of peace and brotherhood. Those who read the Koran must distinguish between its fundamental teaching and its reflection of society at a determined historical moment.

I hope the Uygur terrorists will take into consideration their own interests and stop the dance of violence, and work for the development and prosperity of the country as whole. I also hope that a certain Western country, which loves policing the world but refuses to see its own mistakes, stops using double standards when it comes to condemn terrorist attacks on China.

The author is Canadian writer living in China.