Discrimination of Muslims by Muslims

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[As one who had suffered discrimination in childhood, as a member of the  Muslim minority in a non-Muslim country, I am particularly sensitive to any form of discrimination. I know discrimination is rampant in the West and in India (caste system), but what about discrimination among, us, yes, Muslims? Such discriminations indeed suffocate me.
 
I am one of those who have done my part, as my Islamic duty, towards the cause of Palestinians. But how about our fellow Muslims - and in particular- our Arab brothers and sisters who seem to pay no attention to the plight of fellow Muslims elsewhere - the Kurds against whom Turkey, Iraq and Iran have committed genocide? How about Muslims in China? As the Arab-News editorial below says "This disinterest in the fate of the Uighurs contrasts starkly with the passions rightly raised on behalf of the Palestinians...".
 
Recently, I have been writing passionately about the plight of Gujarat Muslims. In the city where I live, as far as I know, no efforts have been taken to collect funds for them. This is a disgrace. As a Muslim, I hide my face in disgrace. Has discrimination among Muslims reached such a scale that we feel that lives of Gujarat Muslims not as important as Palestinian Muslims? Then, can we blame the West when it does exactly the same when it diminishes the worth of Palestinian lives compared to Jewish ones?
 
Meer Sahib.  
From: "Amir Ali" <amirali@iiie.net>
Subject: Muslim International -- The Uighurs
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 21:16:11 -0400 (EDT)

The Uighurs

Arab News Editorial 24 March 2002

What is surprising and shocking about Friday's report from the
human rights group Amnesty International saying that thousands
of Muslim Uighurs in China's province of Xinjiang have been
imprisoned without trial during the past six months is not the
allegation; there has been a steady, unpleasant stream of
stories of Chinese oppression in Xinjiang in recent years. 
Rather, it is that no one, either in the Muslim world or in the
wider international community, seems particularly vexed by it. 
This disinterest in the fate of the Uighurs contrasts starkly
with the passions rightly raised on behalf of the Palestinians.

Yet the suffering of the two are very similar.  Both are
oppressed by a remorseless state machine.  Like the Israelis,
the Chinese want to create facts on the ground.  They too have
pursued a rigorous settlement policy in the hope of altering the
local demography.  And, unlike the Israelis, they are
succeeding.  As thousands of Chinese settlers are implanted each
week, the Uighurs are now a minority in their own oil-rich land.

It is even arguable that, if anything, the oppression suffered
by the Uighurs is even greater than that visited on the
Palestinians.  As the Amnesty report notes (and there is solid
evidence to support it), most of the thousands arrested have
done nothing more subversive than practice their faith and live
their culture.  Imams have been arrested for teaching the Qur'an
and fasting during Ramadan.  Not even the Israelis have gone
that far - although if they were not under the international
spotlight, they might very well try.

But that is the whole point.

If the plight of the Uighurs is more tragic than that of the
Palestinians, it is largely because it is a plight ignored. 
There are no international agencies working on the ground to
alleviate Uighur suffering, no political pressure on Beijing to
halt its oppression.  This cannot be allowed to continue.  There
may well be one or two terrorists among the Uighur population;
certainly there has been a bombing campaign against Chinese rule
in the province, although it has been singularly ineffective;
there is also evidence of some Uighur militants having been
members of Al-Qaeda.

But that does not give China the right to use the international
campaign against terrorism to suppress legitimate dissent and,
worse, to terrorize a people into surrendering their identity
and faith.  China's campaign is outrageous and illegal - and it
must not be allowed to get away with it.  It is the refusal to
see this and do something about it that shocks.

Around the world, Muslims are in bitter and furious mood at
Israel's actions; they are indignant at America's persistent
past refusal to rein in its ally.  But when it comes to East
Turkestan (as Xinjiang is historically known), there is nothing
more than a shrug of the shoulders.  It is as if people think
that China is beyond pressure so there is not much point doing
anything about it.

That is not right.  The world is focused on the Palestine issue
for the moment, but the sufferings of the Uighurs must not be
ignored.  China must be told firmly that it has to end its
oppression; if not, its hopes of prosperity and international
trade will be short-lived.

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