The Uighur people did not celebrate Eid Ftre at home and abroad
By Tayir Imin Uighurian
June 16, 2018, 21:00 PM EDT
Washington – While the Muslims around the world have been gathering to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, with feasts to mark the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting , the Ramadan holiday meant nothing but performing Eid prayer for the Uighur Muslims across the world who wonder about the fate of more than 2 million brothers and sisters in their homeland .
More than 300 Uighur men and women from Washington metropolitan area have gathered in a community center hall to observe the Eid prayer.
Nuruddin, the imam of the Uyghur American association called on Uighur community to pray for the safety of their relatives at home and unity against Chinese oppression ,”There is nobody among us whose relatives were not arrested by the Chinese government ,we have to make all efforts and measures to make the plight of our people heard by world to protect the basic rights and lives of our innocent countrymen “ he said.After the prayer, the community joined a protest group in front of US Congress, which began June 4 with the aim of asking Congress to pass a bill to punish Chinese officials who are responsible for the mass incarnation of Uighur people in their homeland.Rebiya Kadeer , the leader of Uighur diaspora has made a brief speech amidst the protest,”I know how do you feel, this is not Eid celebration for anyone of us, each has some relatives in so-called political concentration camps at our home,but we have to be strong enough to cope with Chinese physical and mental attacks at home and abroad against Uighur nation “she said .
Uighur people who have a long tradition to celebrate the holidays with their traditional dance and songs, congratulatory poems and postcards, did not show their cherry and enthusiasm, even in social media.
A message that asks the netizens not to celebrate the Eid in Uighur script, spread widely among Wechat users in the Uighur region. People believe the message, as a sign of fear among the Uighurs, exposes the deterioration of human rights situation in the region.
“In wechat moments, you can see the political posts full of words glorifies Xijinping and praises the community party rather than saying a word about celebrating Ramadan Holiday,” said Ilshat Hesen , The president of Uighur American Association.
But overseas Uighurs are different, at least they can criticise the Communist party and Chen Quan Guo,the party secretary of so-called Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, occupied Uighur state who was considered by Uighurs the mastermind of the plot of covert genocide act against Uighurs. Yet, most people seem to choose to share nostalgic memories, videos, music, and photos of Uighur region.
In Istanbul,the second home for largest Uighur diaspora ,almost 5000 Uighurs had a big rally for Holiday celebration with Turkish interior minister Sulayman soylu, who made a speech promising them to accelerate the process of short-term residency for Uighur refugees who claimed to be Turkistanians ,while many observers blame Turkish ruling party of not asking the Chinese government to stop mass imprisonment of Uighur people.
on the same day, Dolqun Isa, the president of World Uighur Congress has come together with his more than 200 Uighur countrymen from around the world in Munich to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Uighur students democracy protest in Xinjiang University in front of the Chinese embassy
Timothy Grose ,Asst Professor of #China Studies, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology twitted on June 17 ,”For obvious reasons, I’m not going to post profiles, so you’ll have to just take my word: none of my Uyghur contacts in China have posted about Roza Heyt (#EidAlFitr) on their social media pages. This virtual silence speaks volumes about the fear gripping the lives of Uyghurs.”
