- Anil Narendra
Perhaps it is for the first time after India, US, Britain, Spain, Russia that China has blamed the terrorists trained in and supported by Pakistan for attacks on its restive region. There were at least three terror attacks in border province of Xinjiang on Saturday, just two days before the beginning of Ramadan. More than 40% population of Xinjiang province consists of Uighur Muslims. Originally, this was a Muslim-dominated area, but the Chinese government converted them into minority by rehabilitating Chinese of Han origin in huge number. Discontent has been brewing over this issue among the native Muslims of the area and many people are demanding autonomy from China to protect their culture. East Turkistan Islamic Movement is one such militant organization, whose members are considered to be behind these terror acts of Saturday and Sunday. The headquarters of this organization is in Pakistan-Afghanistan border area and Chinese sources claim of the perpetrators of this attack having received training in explosive making in Pakistani terror camps. China also claims that those being trained in the Pak terror camps also get support from al-Qaeda and it is al-Qaeda, who is behind these attacks. About 20 persons have been killed in these attacks. These accusations have surfaced at a time when Pak ISI Chief, Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha is reported to be on a secret visit to China. According to official Chinese News Agency Xinhua, the Municipal government of Kashgar has blamed the terrorists, trained by Pak militant outfit East Turkistan Islamic Movement for these attacks. The suspects arrested following these attacks have admitted that their leaders had received training in bomb and weapon making in these camps. They were religious persons and were supportive of jihad. The Xinjiang province has common border with PoK. There is a lot of trade between China and Pakistan from here through Karakoram Highway. Kashgar, situated to the west of Xinjiang, has Muslim majority population. With the rehabilitation of Han origin Chinese, there are often religious conflicts here. At least 200 persons were killed during the clashes between these two communities in 2009. We hope that this will be an eye-opener for China. Till now, China has always been supporting Pakistan and saying that Pakistan is not inciting terrorism, but itself is its victim. Indeed, this assumption is correct to some extent. Today, this Islamic jihad is out of the control of Pak government and its military. Pakistani Army is not strong enough to stop these jihadis, but we must not forget that who sowed the seeds of terrorism? Pak Army and the ISI have always supported these organizations. Till the time, India and US were the targets of these jihadis, China was quiet and was supporting Pakistan on every international forum. When, China itself has become victim of terror, it is making noises. At present, the terror threat in Xinjiang is not that serious, but it has the potential to escalate to higher proportions. In China, violence spread a few days before the Olympics on a large scale and possibility of increased jihadi attacks in the near future can also not be ruled out. At present, China is seeing in American troubles in Afghanistan as its gains, it is deriving sadistic pleasure from Indian engagement in dealing with terrorism, but it should not forget that it can not defend itself from this threat for long. It would be in the interest of China to deal firmly with Pakistan and restrain it from inciting terror activities. Pakistan regards China as its closest ally and Chinese advice would have much impact on it. Chinese problem is that it considers Chinese of Han origin as the Chinese dynasty and other people from other races and cultures like Tibetans and Uighurs are regarded as second grade citizens. China must also see its track record. It does not treat its Muslim community, which consists of a large proportion of its population, equally. Such insertions like ‘Uighurs need not apply for the job’ are common sight in Xinjiang province. Instead of crushing the Muslims of the area, it should concentrate more on their basic problems. It is always the crushed and oppressed Muslims that provide sympathy to al-Qaeda and other terror organizations.
Tags: Anil Narendra, China, Daily Pratap, ISI, Pakistan, Terrorist, Vir Arjun
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