Opinion Orphans of history

Uighurs are unlike any other people in the annals of mankind: they do not trace their origins to neolithic times. They do not claim that antiquity is littered with their linguistic and cultural traces.

Akhil Bakshi

July 9, 2009 03:05 AM IST First published on: Jul 9, 2009 at 03:05 AM IST

Uighurs are unlike any other people in the annals of mankind: they do not trace their origins to neolithic times. They do not claim that antiquity is littered with their linguistic and cultural traces. Or that they have cantered,sabres drawn,the length and breadth of Asia. They have no enviable history,rich in incident,worth recording or writing about. This vacuum in Uighur history has invariably led their Chinese masters to write their own version and use it to perpetuate power. At every turn the Uighurs are told that it is only China that prevents them from falling prey to foreign aggressions of the kind they endured in days gone by.

A large part of known Uighur history has been their disagreeable brush with China. About 2,000 years ago,when the earliest reference was made to Kashgar,the region was under Chinese domination. Off and on the Chinese lost power over the region. Tibetans,the Kharakhanid Khanate,Mongols under Chingiz,and Uzbeks under Timur all held sway over the region during different periods. Himalayan Buddhism flourished here from 2nd to 10th century. In the 16th century,Kashgar was ruled by the Khojas of Uzbekistan. The ensuing theological split was exploited by the Qing Dynasty of China that intervened and moved into the region in the 1800s. The instinctive determination of the Chinese to bring the Uighur under central control provoked an Uighur uprising. Yakub Beg,a boy dancer-cum-soldier,organised the Muslims and ruled lavishly from Kashgar to Urumqi,Turfan and Hami from 1866-1877. He declared independence and concluded treaties with both Britain and Russia. It took a 60,000-strong Chinese Army three years to evict Yakub Beg,now a symbol of Muslim separatism in Xinjiang.

Time has not silenced the voices of separatism. As the recent ethnic violence in Urumqi shows,the eagerness of the Uighurs to cut loose from China has not waned. Fifteen years ago I had entered Xinjiang from Kyrgyzstan,across the Tien Shan Mountains. At the border post Mohammed Ali sought my acquaintance. He could speak some Urdu and practiced it on the busloads of Pakistanis that arrived daily from Gilgit,450 km away. Proudly proclaiming that he was a Mohammedan Turki and not a Chinese,he complained that the Chinese were harassing the Muslims. Today was Friday and he was not allowed to read the namaaz,for Chinese do not encourage Muslims to pray in the mosque.

Walking through a pale blue gate,engraved with quotations from the Koran,I stepped onto a footpath through a grove of trees that led me to a green-pillared prayer hall wholly devoid of worshippers. However,I was assured by my Chinese escorts that Muslims were making good use of the mosque. They also sought to affirm the secular credentials of China by highlighting the financial contribution made by their government to this 560-year old mosque: five major repairs undertaken since 1949 and new toilets,showers and overhead tanks constructed. A boiler now enables Muslims to have the luxury of hot water in winter. A pilgrimage office offers services to the Mecca-bound Hajis (a record 8,000 had made the journey in the last five years). Blessed are the Muslims who are enjoying the patronage of Communist China! Yet,one of the rudest things you can call a Uighur is Chinese.

According to the 1987 Chinese census,there were six million Uighurs in Xinjiang. The Uighurs give a higher,wilder figure. Anticipating a future demand for a referendum on determining the status of Xinjiang,China,through its resettlement policy,is relocating wholesale the Han Chinese from the over-populated eastern regions. If and when a referendum does takes place,the Han majority will vote overwhelmingly for China and the dragons stranglehold over Xinjiang will be complete and internationally accepted.

On the way to Korla, I observed that the Taklamakan desert was bristling with oil tankers and lorries transporting machinery,digging holes in the ground and reaping black gold. Beneath Taklamakans sea of sand is a vast sea of oil. Oil and politics go together. It is estimated that Taklamakan contains 94 billion barrels of oil three times the proven reserves of USA. Silently watching the Chinese take away their oil,the Uighur leadership must be tossing and turning in their beds,scheming secret stampedes into the deserts with their mules and camels and taking possession of the oil fields. Sitting on a sea of gold,they will remain destitute. This grief makes their heart pump faster and their blood turbulent. These are the sort of grievances that drive secessionist demands.

After being stuffed with food by some kind Uighurs at the Night Bazar in Korla,I lifted myself on a donkey cart for a ride back to the hotel.

Pakistan ? inquired the aging,black-robed driver.

Hindoostan, said I,setting the record straight.

Khush? Khush? he asked. Khoob khush! (very happy) I responded,improvising on Uighur philology.

Khitai – zulum! Khitai – zulum! The Chinese are atrocious,he meant. To make sure I understood what he had said,he began whipping his poor donkey. I assured him that I had missed nothing in his statement. He showed me the scars on his hands that had,presumably,been inflicted by the Chinese and began to disrobe to exhibit the ones on his back. I gently pressed his shoulder,indicating there was no need for me to see his mutilation and reassured him that Allah was mehrban,merciful.

I spent three weeks in Xinjiang and came back convinced that Uighurs feel they are arbitrarily and unwillingly attached to China and are eager to cut loose.

The writer is an explorer,author and filmmaker