The event was arranged by the East Turkistan Government in Exile, led by Prime Minister Anwar Turani. “We people around the world stand up to end the Chinese occupation of our homeland,” stated Prime Minister Turani as he updated the audience on the current situation. Currently, thousands of innocent Uyghur Muslims who stand up to protect their basic human rights are being killed, arrested, harassed, imprisoned, and tortured everyday throughout East Turkistan using the pretext of terrorists, extremists, and separatists by communist China.
Bilal Ibrahim Turkistani, the Minister of Religious Affairs of the East Turkistan Government-In-Exile, who also leads Taraweeh at the Islamic Center of North Virginia, recited from the Qur'an to begin the conference.
The day started with a opening marks by Aydin Anwar, a young Uyghur activist. “Thirty-five million people [are] brutally trapped under the atheist Chinese regime,” said Anwar. She said that there was a systematic plan in the past seven decades to eliminate the main ethnic group of the region - the Muslim Uighurs. Millions of Uighurs have been executed, she said, stripped of basic human rights: practice of religion is prohibited, men are not allowed to grow a beard, women are not allowed to wear hijab or niqab and government employees and students are strictly banned from completing any of the obligatory rituals of Islam. She said the media is silent in the region and anyone who speaks up is subject to persecution and imprisonment.
“We want people to leave with the understanding that there is another Syria, another Palestine, another Kashmir, another Burma, yearning for your help,” she said in her plea to the international community.
During her Powerpoint presentation on the history and culture of the Uighur people, she showed the audience the various way the people of East Turkistan are being psychologically oppressed. She shared the Chinese government banners that hang all over the region that say: ‘You can pray 5 times a day but Allah does not provide you with dumplings’ and those that forbid women, children, civil servant and students from entering the masjid.
Oghuz Anwar of Cornell University moderated the event. The revolutionary brother and sister duo represent the younger generation of East Turkistani activists who are using new platforms to raise awareness about their people. Within the last few weeks hundreds of Uighur refugees were forcibly sent back to China from Thailand. “These families will disappear and we will never hear from them again,” said Aydin Anwar.
Many aspects of the life of Muslim Uighurs including the history, culture, and current political situation were addressed by Anwar Yusuf Turani, the Prime Minister of East Turkistan Government-In-Exile.
Renowned American Muslim leaders such as Dr. Anwar Hajjaj, Professor and Founder of American Open University, shared his insights on Islam and the prevalence of misery throughout the Muslim World. He called for a returning to the basics of belief to change our state.
Imam Taalib Abdul-Samad, the Director of Islamic Research and Humanitarian Service- Center of America (IRHSCA), spoke about the responsibility of the Ummah to get educated about the history and plight of the Muslims in what is known as the Xinjiang province.
Dr. Esam Omeish, the former President of Muslim American Society, spoke of the role that U.S. foreign policy plays in this political crisis. Popular local khateeb Azzaz Abdelkarim used the Qur'an to speak on the the need to stand up for justice in the face of oppression. Dr. Souheil Ghannouchi spoke about the important difference between Jihad and Terrorism.
Imam Ali Siddiqui from Corona, CA—the founder of the Islamic Peoples Movement— gave suggestions to improve the conditions of the Uighur Muslims of East Turkistan.
Anwar Omeish, an activist from Harvard University, performed spoken word on the oppression suffered by the Uighur. “The soul hungers for the hunger pangs” she said, emphasizing the yearning of the Uighur who were forbidden from fasting during the month of Ramadan and force fed if they chose to fast. “The home is no longer here.”
Dr. Jeannette Hablullah also gave an inspiring speech at the day long conference on how people can heal from the wounds of oppression titled “Healing the Fracturing of Humanity.”
The conference raised some important questions about the Chinese narrative of fighting “Uighur extremism.” Speakers said Chinese oppression is rooted in a fight for resources as this area produces 60 percent of China’s cotton, is mineral rich, and holds 1/3 of China’s oil and natural gas reserves. What is the Muslim ummah’s role in this crisis?
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