Religion is regarded as one of the most important and impulsive identifiers of a culture as it consists of moral values and principles that have a strong foothold in the conventional cultural model. For the same reason, when one’s religion is threatened, it puts everything at risk; past, present and future (Simonsen & Spindlove 17). The same has happened in China where the Muslim Uighur from Xinjiang have formed activist groups in order to protect their religious standing and have an independent Islamic state of their own. The history of Uighurs’ independence dates back to A.D. 744. As far as modern age is concerned, the said group was able to set up their separate states in 1933 and 1944. However, the states did not survive for a long time and collapsed soon after their establishment. It is important to mention here that the Uighurs started their initial independence movement during the 1960s Cultural Revolution of Mao Tse-tung. The Chinese government arrested about one hundred thousand Uighurs for their anti-Mao activities. As a consequence of this measure, Eastern Turkestan People’s Party was formed by a few Uighurs to acquire an independent Islamic state. Later, the name of the party was changed to Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement (Atkin 327).
The Uighurs’ political and collective protest remained inactive until they were used by the Chinese government to fight the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. The discussed group got the opportunity to get trained in the camps of ‘mujahideen’ where Islamic religious instructions were also imparted. Therefore, when they returned to China, they were ready for combat against Chinese government to have a separate Islamic state in Xinjiang province. This Islamic extremism rose up at the same point when the Han population was granted the immigration allowance by the Chinese government in Xinjiang. Thus, a cultural havoc followed that led to the April 1990 Baren rebellion resulting in the killing of thirty people and the arrest of thousands. The turmoil did not end here, and Uighurs continued to bash both the Chinese law enforcement agencies’ personnel and Han population throughout the 1990s (Atkins 327). The relationship between Osama bin Laden and ETIM’s leaders had been close, and it is reported that many ETIM fighters were trained at training camps of Al-Qaeda.
Uighurs are still considered as a challenge for the Beijing and are accused of self-rule, initiators of terror campaigns and Islamic extremism in the country. In the contemporary age, the innovative and widespread uses of technological devices and communication means have made the network of Uighurs stronger on an international level. Although they are small in number but they are spread in various countries. It has made it difficult to catch them (Simonsen & Spindlove 17). To cut a long story short, Uighurs history of independence is rooted in their religious beliefs. It has encouraged them to become extremists. They are highly committed about their independence movement and find it justified taking severe measures. However, terrorism is not the way to achieve sovereignty and self-government. It is crystal clear that the Uyghur separatists have now directed their fight for independence outside the Chinese territory. They have involved themselves in the global Jihad in a very clever manner. This is because they are benefitting their own ideology in the name of Muslim suppression and Islamic supremacy survival. The international community is highly required to take hold of such religious extremists.
Works Cited
Atkins, Stephen E.. Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004. Print.
Simonsen, Clifford E., and Jeremy R. Spindlove. Terrorism Today. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
