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Pakistan is on an important cusp in its geo-political timeline. Its geographical proximity to Afghanistan and China have made it a happening place amidst covid. The US interest in maintaining peace in the region and our continuing co operation in granting them Pakistani airspace comes at a time of international importance.
Pakistan’s involvment in raising the Palestinian cause at the UN general assembly is being touted as a sixer for the governing party inside Pakistan. Not only this but the glare of the projects under the belt and road intiative with china and now very recently the inaugration of the Kanuup nuclear plant in Karachi have blinded the party supporters from its odd numbness at the plight of ughihurs in our neighboring country.
Qureshi’s silence in the CNN interview might have been justified for an international audience but what about the Pakistani citizens who are just as concerned about the atrocities in Xinjiang as they are about Palestine. The US and Chinese aid to Pakistan conviniently arrives during a serious international economic and information stand off between the two powers.
It might seem like a strategy well played but propoganda and information wars are won way before all such projects roll out. Lets hope this time around we havent sold the fate of our Muslim brethern in Xinjiang for Chinese Yuans like we sold our own for Dollars in Mushrraf’s regime.
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan cannot getaway with such relative morality when it comes to the Ughiyurs.
Writer and teacher Maryam Sakeenah wrote in 2008:
“Both Human Rights Watch and Human Rights in China accuse China of ‘opportunistically using the post 9/11 enviornment to make the outrageous claim that individual disseminating peaceful religious and cultural messages in Xinjian are terrorists who have simply changed tactics”
Laura Jackson, an expert on the South China Sea and Chinese political-military strategy explained in a panel discussion held in 2015 that :
"They’re learning from Sun Tzu in terms of winning without fighting’. Commenting on the three dimensions of chinese strategy. Namely media warfare, psychological warfare and legal warfare(by exploiting ambiguities)
Reporters without Borders reported in 2019:
“The international promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to reinforce China’s commercial and political influence, is enlisting the help of media outlets from all over the world.”
Amnesty International in 2020 shares a Han’s Chinese account:
"I got talking to a man who worked for the Xinjiang regional government. He told me the policy now being implemented is to "sacrifice a generation", with social stability and counter-terrorism policies expected to cause Xinjiang’s economic development to stagnate. “
Our prolonged political numbness on this issue might cost us more than we bargained for.
Saima Sher Fazal
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