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SearchToday in Islamophobia: Chinese President Xi Jinping defends Xinjiang detention network, claiming ‘happiness’ is on the rise. Xi Jinping’s comments come even as researchers report that China is expanding its network of concentration camps. At UN, Pakistani leader Imran Khan says India sponsors anti-Muslim hate. Our recommended read today is by Shashank Bengali and Meer Baloch on how China’s crackdown on Uighurs tore one family apart. This, and more, below:
International
A Pakistani father’s ordeal: China seized his Uighur son and sent his daughters to an orphanage | Recommended Read
The two had been in Pakistan for three weeks when they received a phone call from back home in the Chinese region of Xinjiang. Hayat’s wife, an ethnic Uighur, had been detained. He and Arafat raced to the border, where Chinese police were waiting. They arrested Arafat, a Uighur like his mother, saying he would be questioned on what he had done in Pakistan. read the complete article
The Uighurs: We need another hero
Disney’s recently released “Mulan” offered gratitude during the film’s closing credits to a Chinese government agency responsible for facilitating the creation of internment camps. This attack on Uighurs is difficult to fathom. Disney’s demonstration of appreciation is a public display of complicity and contradictory to the ideals of those in the music, business and entertainment industries. Despite my disappointment, I am in search of a beacon of hope to help me spread the message about the Uighur genocide in Xinjiang. read the complete article
At UN, Pakistani leader says India sponsors anti-Muslim hate
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday assailed India’s Hindu nationalist government and its moves to cement control of Muslim-majority Kashmir, calling India a state sponsor of hatred and prejudice against Islam. Khan said at the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders that Islamophobia rules India and threatens the nearly 200 million Muslims who live there. “They believe that India is exclusive to Hindus and others are not equal citizens,” he said in a prerecorded speech to the U.N. General Assembly, which is being held virtually amid the coronavirus pandemic. read the complete article
China
Chinese President Xi Jinping defends Xinjiang detention network, claiming 'happiness' is on the rise
Chinese President Xi Jinping said levels of happiness among all ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang are rising and that China plans to keep teaching its residents a "correct" outlook on China, Xinhua news agency reported. China has repeatedly denied mistreating Uyghurs and says the camps are vocational training centres that are needed to tackle extremism, accusing what it calls anti-China forces of smearing its Xinjiang policy. "The sense of gain, happiness, and security among the people of all ethnic groups [in Xinjiang] has continued to increase," Mr Xi told a ruling Communist Party conference on Xinjiang held on Friday and Saturday, Xinhua reported. read the complete article
China Is Expanding Muslim Detention Centers, Australian Researchers Claim
China appears to be expanding its network of secret detention centers in Xinjiang, where predominantly Muslim minorities are targeted in a forced assimilation campaign, and more of the facilities resemble prisons, an Australian think tank has found. read the complete article
Xi Says China Will Continue Efforts to Assimilate Muslims in Xinjiang
Chinese leader Xi Jinping declared success in his approach to governing the region of Xinjiang, signaling no letup in the Communist Party’s forceful campaign to assimilate millions of ethnic Muslims on the country’s northwestern frontier. “Practice has proven that the party’s strategy for governing Xinjiang in the new era is completely correct,” and it must continue for the long term, Mr. Xi said at a two-day party conference on Xinjiang policy that concluded Saturday, according to a state media report. Addressing a Beijing gathering of officials from the party leadership, central government and Xinjiang, among others, Mr. Xi also ordered the entire Communist Party to consider it a political mission to implement the Xinjiang strategy, which he said brought the region closer toward long-term peace and stability. read the complete article
India
Political Space Shrinking, Where Do Indian Muslims Go From Here?
The protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were unarguably the biggest political movement by Muslims in Independent India. This is not to downplay the participation of non-Muslims, but there is no denying that Muslims lay at the core of the movement. Muslim localities became epicentres of protests. Women and men, children and elderly – cutting across sects, biradris and professions – came out to voice their opposition to a discriminatory law. Even geographically, there were protests in most states, with Shaheen Bagh style sit-ins coming up even in small towns. The community has never been this united and this visible politically. Then came the crackdown. read the complete article
United States
Behind Trump's push for civil war: A deep history of white supremacist paranoia
Dr. James Scaminaci III has just published a report about the long historical genesis of this recent push for Political Research Associates, "Battle With Bullets: Advancing a Vision of Civil War." Scaminaci traces the roots of culture-war and race-war narratives as far back as the Haitian revolution of the early 19th century. He observes that Steve Bannon nurtured those carefully at Breitbart News and they have played a key role in radicalizing Trump's base over the past five years, to the point where some of his supporters are visibly preparing themselves for violence. Some parts of this story have been relatively well covered, but Scaminaci provides a much more integrated and historically extensive account of how we reached our present state. read the complete article
The Proud Boys avoided violence in Portland, an attempt to make their group more palatable
“Stand down, Proud Boys,” Enrique Tarrio, the international chairman of the group, shouted into the microphone. “Don’t take the bait.” Tarrio said he knew it was one of the moments that could shape how the world viewed the Proud Boys, a group that has been associated with White nationalist rhetoric and has a reputation for sparking fights with the far left that devolve into mayhem. A few hundred — far fewer than the thousands the group predicted — gathered Saturday in a city that has been on the front lines of the nation’s combustible political conflict. read the complete article