Uyghurs in Pakistan
 | |
| Total population | |
| 200,000[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Islamabad, Karachi, Gilgit-Baltistan, Rawalpindi | |
| Languages | |
| Uyghur · Urdu · Mandarin · Punjabi · Kashmiri | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Uzbeks, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz |
| Part of a series on |
| Uyghurs |
|---|
|
Uyghurs outside of Xinjiang |
Uyghurs in Pakistan are a small community of ethnic Uyghurs who live in Pakistan that originate from Xinjiang, China. Pakistan persisted in its lack of response regarding the ongoing suppression of ethnic Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang.[2]
Migration history
Some members of ethnic minorities of China, primarily Muslim Uyghurs from Xinjiang, have historically migrated to and settled in the northern parts of Pakistan.[citation needed] The earliest migrants, numbering in the thousands, came in as traders during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the area that is Pakistan was still under British rule. Most of these Uyghurs used to have warehouses and residences in towns in the North and in parts of upper Punjab and used to travel between Kashgar and Yarkand and these places, regularly.[citation needed] Others came in the 1940s in fear of communist persecution.[3] A few hundred more fled to Pakistan in the aftermath of a failed uprising in Khotan in 1954.[4] Later waves of migration came in 1963 and again in 1974.[5] Some Pakistani descendants who previously lived in Xinjiang, especially at Kashgar, have also moved back to Pakistan with their Uyghur spouses.[6][7][8]
Beginning in the 1980s, Pakistan began to become a major transit point for Uyghurs going on the hajj; the temporary Uyghur settlements that formed there became the focal points of later, more permanent communities, as Uyghurs returning from their pilgrimage or from further studies at schools in Egypt and Saudi Arabia decided to settle down in Pakistan rather than return to China.[9] As of 2020[update], community leaders estimated their total numbers at 2,000[10] to 3,000 people, with 800 at Gilgit, another 2,000 at Rawalpindi, 100 at the border town of Sust on the Karakoram Highway and the remainder scattered throughout the rest of the country.[citation needed]
Social integration
China has been suspicious of some members of the Uyghur community in Pakistan, viewing them as supporters of the East Turkestan independence movement. Pakistan has given them a friendly reception, but rejects any promotion of separatism or anything that challenges another country's sovereign integrity.[11] Many Uyghurs in Pakistan run small businesses.[3] In recent years, they have moved into the import-export field, buying Chinese ceramics, textiles, and other products from Xinjiang for resale in Pakistan.[12] The Uyghur community are usually well-integrated into Pakistani society. Intermarriage is common now, and most prefer to speak Urdu rather than Uyghur.[3] The Islamic world, heavily influenced by China's economic power, has chosen to remain silent regarding China's actions. Due to a lack of courage to openly criticize China, some Islamic countries are sacrificing the welfare of the Uighur population in exchange for economic benefits. Despite Pakistan and Turkey presenting themselves as champions of Islam, they have disappointed the Uighurs by not only staying silent on China's aggressive treatment of them, but also collaborating with Beijing to further oppress their community.[13]
Rights groups estimate that a staggering number exceeding one million Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking minorities have been involuntarily confined in a system of internment camps, labeled as "re-education centers" by the Chinese government. The Uighur community has endured curfews, profiling, and an intimidating presence of security forces. Additionally, policies allowing the influx of outsiders into their ancestral lands have further contributed to a sense of confinement and imprisonment felt by the Uighur population.[14]
Terrorism
A number of Uyghurs residing in Pakistan; especially remote northwestern mountainous tribal areas were believed to have been engaged in militancy and carrying out terrorist attacks on military and civilian targets.[15] China claimed that members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement have taken refuge in Lahore.[5] In 1997, fourteen Uyghur students with Chinese citizenship were studying in Pakistan were deported back to China after they organised a sympathy protest in support of riots in Ghulja; Amnesty International claims that they were executed.[16] In 2009, another nine Uyghur militants captured in Waziristan were extradited to China.[17]
As of 2015, the Pakistani government asserted that Uyghur militants were no longer present in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan.[18]
Community organisations
Omar Uyghur Trust
Omar and Akbar Khan, two Uyghur brothers in Pakistan, set up a cultural organisation, the Omar Uyghur Trust, to educate their community's children in the Uyghur language and culture.[19]
Guesthouses
Pakistan also used to have a number of Uyghur community reception centres.[20] Kashgarabad, located in Islamabad, was run by wealthy Uyghur traders. Anwar ul-Ulum Abu Hanifa Madrassah was run by a man named Sheikh Serajuddin in Rawalpindi.[21] A third, Hotanabad, was also located near Islamabad.[20] Hotanabad was shut down in December 2000, a situation which the Uyghur American Association also attributes to pressure from China, which expressed concerns about these centers of facilitating recruitment for extremism against Beijing.[16] Kashgarabad and Hotanabad both suffered another shutdown in 2006.[20]
Notable people
- Abdul Rasul, Pakistani citizen of Uyghur ethnicity, leader of the Asian Muslims Human Rights Bureau.[22][23]
- Hakim Said, Pakistani herbalist.[24]
- Sadia Rashid, Pakistani academic.[25]
See also
References
- ^ https://dzen.ru/a/Y7nr3SMGQETzz7ag
- ^ Human Rights Watch (21 December 2020), "Pakistan: Events of 2020", English, retrieved 8 August 2023
- ^ a b c Rahman 2005, p. 60
- ^ Rahman 2005, p. 50
- ^ a b Ali, Wajahat (29 May 2004), "China says terrorists from Xinjiang hiding in Pakistan", Daily Times, retrieved 25 March 2009
- ^ "From Uyghurs to Kashgari: A Pakistani community finds itself caught between two worlds", The Diplomat, 20 December 2013, retrieved 15 May 2015
- ^ Hadid, Diaa (15 November 2018). "'My Family Has Been Broken': Pakistanis Fear For Uighur Wives Held In China". NPR. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ "China frees 'lost' Uighur wives but at a price, families say". Bangkok Post. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ Haider 2005, pp. 525–6
- ^ Liuhto, Maija (15 January 2019). "'China is after us': Uighurs in Pakistan report intimidation". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ Haider 2005, p. 526
- ^ "巴基斯坦北部华裔维吾尔人/Uyghurs of China in Northern Pakistan", Broadcasting Corporation of China, 23 February 2009, retrieved 26 July 2009
- ^ Mahbubani, Rhea. "Pakistani leader Imran Khan admitted he refuses to criticize China's treatment of its Uighur minority because they 'helped us when we were at rock bottom'". Business Insider. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
- ^ "Pakistan Concerned For Muslims In Kashmir But Apathetic Towards Chinese Uighur Muslims". www.eurasiantimes.com. 7 August 2020. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ "From his Pakistan hideout, Uighur leader vows revenge on China". Saud Mehsud, Maria Golovnina. Reuters.
- ^ a b Haider 2005, p. 535
- ^ "Nine Uyghur militants extradited to China", The Daily Mail, Pakistan, 28 April 2009, retrieved 11 May 2010
- ^ "Uighur militants eliminated from Pakistani territory: Asif". The Express Tribune. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ Shohret Hoshur; Shemshidin, Zubeyra (6 April 2010), "Pakistan Uyghurs in Hiding: Brothers blame raids and arrests on pressure from China", Radio Free Asia, retrieved 11 May 2010
- ^ a b c "EDITORIAL: Uighur terrorism in Pakistan", Daily Times (Pakistan), 27 June 2006, retrieved 29 April 2010
- ^ Starr 2004, p. 144
- ^ B. Raman (22 December 1998), Osama bin Laden: Rumblings in Afghanistan, South Asia Analysis Group, archived from the original on 13 June 2010, retrieved 26 June 2009
- ^ B. Raman (14 March 1999), Continuing unrest in Xinjiang: An Update, South Asia Analysis Group, archived from the original on 14 June 2011, retrieved 26 June 2009
- ^ Baruah, Amit (6 August 2007). Dateline Islamabad. Penguin Books India. ISBN 9780143102465 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Promoting Japanese culture: Japan confers prestigious award on Hamdard chief". 3 February 2019.
- Sources
- Haider, Ziad (2005), "Sino-Pakistan relations and Xinjiang's Uyghurs: Politics, Trade, and Islam along the Karakoram Highway" (PDF), Asian Survey, 45 (4): 522–545, doi:10.1525/as.2005.45.4.522, archived (PDF) from the original on 7 May 2012
- Rahman, Anwar (2005), Sinicization beyond the Great Wall: China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Troubador Publishing, ISBN 978-1-904744-88-7
- Starr, S. Frederick (2004), Xinjiang: China's Muslim borderland, M.E. Sharpe, ISBN 978-0-7656-1318-9
- "Displaced dreams: Uighur families have no place to call home in G-B", The Express Tribune, 21 May 2015, retrieved 21 May 2015
Further reading
- "Uighur militants eliminated from Pakistani territory: Asif". The Express Tribune. Reuters.
- "Pakistan says has eliminated Uighur militants from territory". Samaa TV. Reuters.
