dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

Ethnic and Religious Discrimination in East Turkistan / Ahmet Faruk UnsalAnother Chinese violation that does not occur anywhere else in the world butin East Turkistan is the practice of hanging lists of people who are banned fromthe mosques on the doors of these places of worship. The list of those who havebeen banned from entering the mosques includes minors, civil servants, workers,retired people, municipal officers, party members and women. Although thereare also Buddhist temples in the same region, no such list can be seen hangingfrom these doors. If this practice is the reaction of a Communist regime towardsreligion, then such prohibitive actions would be taken not only against the Muslimcommunity, but also against members of other religions. This demonstrates thatthe Chinese government is discriminating both ethnically and religiously againstthe Muslim people, and they are not even attempting to disguise this.In China, whose economy has been liberalized and opened to privateentrepreneurship, all social and political life is under oppression and surveillance.It is strictly forbidden to establish a political party or to establish a foundationor association, let alone a free press or media. Private schools cannot be openedbecause this is regarded as an indoctrination activity rather than a commercialone. Therefore, religious education is seen as an illegal activity. Anyone who openstheir house to provide religious education or anyone who attends such courses asa trainer or trainee is, as can only be expected in this regime, severely punished.All libraries are under the control of the state. During the Cultural Revolution,thousands of volumes of publications were destroyed as they were considered tooppose the Chinese Cultural Policy. The names of universities in East Turkistanwere changed after the 1950s, and graduates of these universities were blacklisted,having to lead their lives under oppression.The interference of the Chinese government in marriage ceremonies andother traditions of the Muslims are increasing day by day. The government carriesout activities to prevent the use of the Uyghur language and culture. Even themusic tapes that have been recorded in East Turkistan or brought in from otherregions are strictly checked and controlled by the Chinese ministry of cultureand the intelligence agency. For the Uyghur people to make a film to be shownin cinemas there is the stipulation that one of the actors or actresses must beethnically Chinese and that this person is the protagonist of the story.443