Photo: Tahir Imin Uyghurian
Author: Uyghur Töre
Translated and edited from Uyghur Times Uyghur Edition
“How can we criticize governments of independent states when we are weak and live without a homeland? Can we talk about them, and will it help?”
Answer: Yes!
A great example is Tahir Imin Uyghurian’s speech before the Uzbekistan Consulate in Washington.
A Uyghur family from Uzbekistan who came to Istanbul said: “Uzbek President Shaukat Mirzayev has recently begun to pay special attention to Uyghurs. He began to grant residence permits (Iqamat) to those who lacked one and distributed 20 million soms of aid to English education and Uyghur cultural centers. The lives of Uyghurs and the natives of Uzbekistan are getting easier in all aspects. Especially after Tahir Imin’s speech in front of the Uzbek consul in the United States, the government is starting to care about Uyghurs. Peace be upon you”.
For years, those accustomed to the litigation system, with a mentality of “having to beg” may have forgotten what it is like to address the government. They may have also forgotten that it is not against the law of any country to address the government, if done correctly, thereby showing that the Uyghurs are not so weak.
A short speech by Tahir Imin outside the embassy didn’t only demonstrate this but granted almost immediate results: The effect in Uzbekistan and the increased satisfaction of the Uyghurs in Uzbekistan.