Taobao's fashion model, Merdan Ghappar was recently arrested by Chinese authorities for posting a video of the detention centers in Xinjiang, northwest China. He showed a glimpse of the center, where he was seen handcuffed to a bed in a small room with bars on the window and a voice over a loudspeaker saying, "there has never been a Uighur independence movement." BBC consulted its experts and reported the video is likely to be genuine.
Merdan Ghappar had shared a selfie video and a couple of text messages in March, nothing was heard or seen from him since, said Enwer Ardan, speaking on behalf of Merdan Ghappar's uncle, Abdulhakim Ghappar who now lives in the Netherlands. Arden further added, "it is a firsthand document that confirms China is torturing and killing Uighur people inside the camp.” Arden believes Ghappar was targeted like many other intellectuals, artists, Uighur celebrities who have gone missing. He said, "Tremendous intellectuals and artists and popular singers were arrested. And I think Merdan is part of this."
"It is a firsthand document that confirms China is torturing and killing Uighur people inside the camp" - Enwer Ardan
Uighur Diaspora Artists Outside China Rose to the Occasion
In the light of missing Uighar Artists in China, people of the Uighur community living around the world came forward to raise their concerns and ask for international mediation.
Elise Marie Anderson, an ethnomusicologist in Washington, DC, who lived in Xinjiang and works with the Uyghur Human Rights Project said, "Here are people who've been doing these sorts of preservation efforts for a very long time. There are just more of us now because people realize the gravity of the situation."
Mukaddas Mijit, a Uighur dancer, singer, and filmmaker now living in Paris, says, "There's a lot of stress around Uighur culture, [with people] saying, ‘All that will disappear, so we have to keep it in its original shape." She believes culture can not be preserved in its authentic form, it has to flow and grow with time.
“A culture that doesn't move anymore, or a culture [that’s] just repeating itself, it's already the beginning of the end” - Mukaddas Mijit
Mijit also pointed out the stereotypical treatment of Uighur Artists in China, she said, "If you talk about Uighurs in, for example, Beijing, there are basically two reactions. One is, 'Oh, they're thieves' or "They're terrorists" or ‘They're dangerous people.' Or, "They are beautiful girls with beautiful clothes." And ‘They can dance.'"
"If you talk about Uighurs in, for example, Beijing, there are basically two reactions. One is, 'Oh, they're thieves' or "They're terrorists" or 'They're dangerous people.' Or, "They are beautiful girls with beautiful clothes." And ‘They can dance.'"
Chinese Authorities are Coming for Everyone
As a Uighur artist living abroad, Mijit confessed she never thought it would go this far. Uighur artists did live in the same anxiety and oppression as other Uighurs in China, but they never went against the Chinese regime. They had Chinese names, always behaved well, and still, they are now going missing.
She recalls the 2009 event when hundreds of Uighurs participated in a protest that turned violent in Xinjing. She saw trucks full of Chinese troops that encircled the area and militarized the zone. "They forced us to get used to [militarization].” The event resulted in the Chinese government moving millions of Uighurs in Xinjiang into detention camps.
Stand for Merdan Ghappar as you did for George Floyd
Merdan Ghappar is missing and so are other Uighur artists, but why there's a deafening silence. Merdan's uncle Abdulhakim Ghappar believes the video could galvanize public opinion in the same way that footage of the police treatment of George Floyd became a powerful symbol of racial discrimination in the US. "They have both faced brutality for their race, but while in America people are raising their voices, in our case there is silence," BBC reported.
"They have both faced brutality for their race, but while in America people are raising their voices, in our case there is silence"
Feature Image Credit: BBC
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