whole world is quite, the OIC is silent, the new Caliph hasn’t said
anything. I think we should not say Anything. (from the Comments, filed under wicked humor)
Rafia Zakaria is the latest to jump on the band-wagon.
Question: Why does Pakistan choose to remain silent in face of grave religious violations by the Chicoms against the Uighurs?
Following the musings of the delightfully pen-named BPeep– Carvak Charan and summoning our best inner teenage girl spirit, we respond: well, duh!!!
Rafia did make one (unusual for her) mistake. Pakistanis (81%) do not love China more than the Chinese. The Chinese love themselves the most (95%).
That raises a separate ethical issue for Pew querying Chinese over the phone (or inter-webs or god forbid, in person) and asking to put their non-love of the nation on public record.
Finally, it is surprising that Pew has queried state-less Palestinians (and many others) about the Chinese but not the Indians (naughty, naughty).
Next, we set aside the favs/unfavs data and look at the poll in totality. The picture that emerges is a complex one.
…….
Is China’s growing military power a good or bad thing for our country? Pakistan- 64%
Does China consider your country’s interests? Pakistan- 52%
Both the huge drop in numbers and/or rankings point to the clear eyed understanding that Pakistanis have about China. As Pakistanis get more and more exposed to Han racism (which may be even worse than Arab racism) we can also expect a realistic appraisal in case the crucial question is posed: what do you think how China/Chinese think about your country/people?
…..
According to a Pew Research Center survey
done just last year, the only country that loves China more than China
itself, is Pakistan. Now, suddenly, there is news that threatens to fray
these bonds of affection.
According to news reports, the Chinese
Communist Party which has long placed restrictions on fasting in the
Chinese Muslim province of Xinjiang has issued a ban on fasting.
A Government website announced that all teachers, all students, and all
civil servants would be banned from fasting in the month of Ramazan.
The
ban is a sudden and severe curb on religious freedom in a province
already often beleaguered by religious clashes and political unrest.
In
one part of the region, retired school teachers were posted outside
mosques to prevent students from entering the premises. In another, a
school website announced that fasting could not be permitted because it was detrimental to student health.
The
Bureau of Forestry in Xinjiang’s Zhaosu County held an event the day
before Ramazan began in which party affiliates signed pledges saying
that they and their family members would desist from fasting.
A
weather bureau in the Hotan area of the province went even further
announcing on its website that all Muslim employees would be required to
sign a letter saying that they would not be fasting.
China does
not have a stellar record of respecting the rights of minority
religions. But this new ban and its accompanying restrictions are the
most blatant curb on the freedom to practice religion seen in the
country in recent days.
At the same time, there is China’s long record of aid and alliance with Pakistan.
Not
only has China been a longtime supporter of Pakistan’s nuclear program,
it has recently also pledged to help bolster Pakistan’s civilian
nuclear power capacity over the next five years. This includes the
construction of a 2200MW nuclear power complex in Karachi that is
forecasted to cost over 10 billion dollars.
China is also
Pakistan’s largest supplier of military equipment and Beijing operates
the strategic port of Gwadar in the Balochistan province.
On the
civilian end, the two countries enjoy a free trade agreement, an accord
signed last year created the “Pak-China Economic Corridor” The project
which involved the construction of a 200 km tunnel, would connect
Pakistan ironically to the very location of the problem, the Chinese
Muslim province of Xinjiang.
As a Muslim country, Pakistan has
been eager to stand up to the injustices committed against Muslims
anywhere in the world. In most cases, these denunciations, whether they
are of veil bans in France or pogroms in Gujarat, oft have not posed
much of a challenge to the country’s strategic and economic interests.
This
issue with China; its outright banning of what is a basic tenet of the
Muslim faith may prove to be a trickier proposition.
Used to denouncing only the West and India, Pakistanis ignore the
racism and human rights abuses perpetrated by those they consider to be
their ‘friends’.
In this respect, the condition of Muslims in
Xinjiang requires the solidarity of others who believe in their rights
of free exercise and the injustice of this ban.
At the same time,
China’s actions against its Muslims are not that different from
Pakistan’s indifference toward its own religious minorities.
Pakistani
Hindus and Christians, while not facing outright bans, are used to
being hounded, harassed and even killed. Viewed from this lens then, the
Chinese and Pakistani positions on minorities are perhaps not that far
apart; the difference only in the detail of which minority, Muslim,
Hindu or Christian, bears the brunt of an intolerant state.
Hard
as it may be on the poor Muslims of Xinjiang, this ban on fasting may
not bring a break-up between Pakistan and China, becoming instead the
wilful compromise on which marriages of convenience are built.
…..
Link (1): http://www.dawn.com/news/1117038/breaking-up-with-china
Link (2): http://www.pewglobal.org/database/indicator/24/
….
regards