China’s Self-Defeating Uyghur Policy
In recent times, the entire western mainstream media and their affiliated outlets have regularly reported China's alleged ill-treatment of the Muslim Uyghurs. Having previously extended their support for Afghan, Iraq and other destructive policies of the US, the credibility of the media lies tattered. They portray countries they consider enemies in a negative light, and manipulate opinion to build consent for wars. So it's hard to trust their reports. But China itself has said it holds an indefinite number of Uyghurs in training camps. I wonder why?
The existence of such camps was reported during the Cultural Revolution. These were called correctional facilities and served the purpose of reeducation to reintegrate the enemies of the revolution. The great French Revolution massacred more than a hundred thousand people, as did Stalin. The English and American civil wars were no less bloody. The Uyghurs have not been dispatched to that fate but are segregated for reeducation. Are they enemies of the Chinese revolution? How so? Have they threatened the Chinese state in any way? If so, how? As reported by the Chinese press, these camps are providing "technical skills" for the Uyghurs, especially their youth to help them seek jobs in other parts of China. The second intent is to keep the Islamic extremist returnees from Taliban/ISIS battlefields. Both intents are understandable. Yet, there is something that doesn't quite add up. Ambiguous explanations from the authorities sow seeds of mistrust.
There are no such camps for the larger Han community, and if an entire ethnic community, no matter how big or small, is suspected of Islamic extremism because they are Muslims by faith, it's no different from the racist Islamophobia of the west. Or does it stem from the usual hostility of communists against religion? If so, it's more like Stalinist purges than "socialism with Chinese characteristic". Either way, it's indefensible. It's true that earlier Uyghurs had collaborated with the hated Mongol and Manchu invaders centuries ago (China, A History, John Keay), but if the Han people still harbour that grudge against their descendants, it's simply inexcusable and also inhuman.
Yes, there are elements in Muslim societies exposed to the Wahabi/Salafi extremism but to treat an entire ethnic people with suspicion is a sure recipe for alienation. It's the last thing expected of a communist party. For long, the socialists/communists were accused of all sorts of sin under the sun, but not racism. The mechanistic praxis of Marx's theory led many communist parties astray. Marxism isn't a religion; rather it's a scientific methodology that can and needs to evolve in view of century-old experiments across the world. Or else, it may become a dogma and like other dogmas will cease to have practical applications and eventually fade away. Marx's early views on religion, which he didn't seem to have changed, may draw some light on this issue. It offers a deeper perspective. Perhaps one of the key reasons for the failure of most of the subsequent communist movements, including the Bolsheviks, was their unwillingness to discern religion in this light.
Marx was aware of the historic role of religion in the evolution of civilisation. His frequently quoted "religion is the opium of the masses" is repeatedly referred out of context. The preceding sentence—"religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and soul of soulless conditions" (1844 journal Deutsch–Französische Jahrbücher)—is hardly cited. Faith was a solace to the Hebrew slaves in Egypt just as Christianity was to the downtrodden of the Roman Empire. German peasants held on to the Protestant faith in their struggle against the oppressive feudal order, as did the Chinese peasantry for centuries by taking refuge in various folk religions outside the official/structured ones although they had elements of all (History of Religion, Sergei Tokarev). All other religions played a similar role at the early stages of their evolution.
They played three distinct roles blended into one. Since humans began to think, the mysteries of creation made them curious. Religion provided answers to that spiritual quest; so long as it remains a mystery, the thirst to explore cannot be quenched. It may be counterproductive to use force to try to stamp it out. The Bolsheviks tried and failed, as did most other communist parties. Such experiences left a negative legacy. This could and should be an empirical lesson for the present and future practitioners of a scientific methodology. The best policy would be to leave it alone.
The second role of religion was to support governance. Every religion presented laws to govern the society where it originated or had influence. Initially, they were mostly egalitarian, but once religions gained political power, by whatever means, the moral content gave way to decadence. Eventually, it became a handy tool of the status quo. Over time mankind has developed far more relevant civil and criminal laws replacing most of the religious ones that were related to governance. Third, in early times religion and state were inseparable. But modernity has in most cases separated them. The revolution has freed China from these two areas of religious control. If any faith-based community, whether Muslim, Confucian, Buddhist or Christian, intrudes in the state's handling of these two areas of religion, the state reserves the right to intervene, but it cannot trample the spiritual quest or the cultural practices emanating from them.
All faiths bequeathed many cultural attributes to each society. Though they have religious roots, they are, however, celebrated more as culture. A vast majority of Europeans have long ceased to go to Church to pray but that doesn't stop them from celebrating Christmas. The Chinese New Year celebration, at least in part, honours the heavenly Jade Emperor. Similarly, all other faith-based communities have their religio-cultural practices. If these do not interfere with the secular administration of the Chinese state, they should be celebrated and not stamped out.
But if the suspicion about the Uyghurs is influenced by Islamophobia, it's far more baffling. In brief, it's a derivative of orientalism, a European school of thought. It degrades all Afro-Asian people and their religio-cultural practices as uncivilised. To put it bluntly, they are considered lesser humans, needing patronisation or reform, but never treated as equals. This was at the heart of the colonial project. It dehumanised the colonial people and took away their dignity. Racism is a logical sequence of that outlook. All the colonies and a great number of people across the world still suffer immensely under its aegis. CCP and other communist or nationalist parties fought steadily against this curse and presumably defeated it for good via successful revolutions. But has it recently crept back into CCP's lexicon somehow? No nation is free of the disease of majoritarian chauvinism. Some deny it and ask the ethnic or other minorities in their societies to assimilate, some hide it with tact while some take pride in it, yet some try to get over it. China's friends would like to see it in the last group. A communist party is supposed to pursue the most advanced consciousness of its time free from all regressive socio-cultural prejudices.
China is a beacon of hope for the entire developing world. The CCP has lifted more than a billion people out of poverty in 70 years. It took the developed nations 200 years to do the same for far fewer numbers—that too by colonial plunder, massacring the natives, and slavery. The BRI Initiative is now helping others to develop. But these remarkable achievements might suffer immeasurably if key but delicate policy matters are not handled with care among which religion is one. The indescribable tragedy will be if CCP suffers the Bolshevik fate—not only for China but for the world in general and the developing world in particular. A multipolar world is in the interest of all concerned except the imperial centre and its partners. To avoid that fate, the CCP needs to introspect. Without regular debates on theory and practice among the rank and file, any communist party will run the risk of becoming fossilised. And hopefully, CCP doesn't intend to recreate a modern-day Middle Kingdom.
The US and its allies are bent on noosing China because it has upturned their long-held total control over the world. And to face that challenge, China needs to solve avoidable frictions at home and abroad, especially in its vicinity. Humane treatment of the Uyghurs and all other minorities will surely enhance China's influence. Improving its relation with India and ASEAN states is imperative. Building trust and solidarity across Asia, Africa, and Latin America may keep them from joining the US-led imperial forces in any possible future conflict.
Ali Ahmed Ziauddin is a researcher and activist. Email: aliahmedziauddin@gmail.com