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{{Infobox ethnic group
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Uyghurs in Pakistan
| group = Uyghurs in Pakistan
| native_name = [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]]: پاكىستاندىكى ئۇيغۇرلار<br />[[Urdu]]: پاکستان میں اویغور
| native_name = {{ubl|{{native name|ug|پاكىستاندىكى ئۇيغۇرلار}}|{{native name|ur|پاکستان میں اویغور}}}}
| native_name_lang =
| flag = Kokbayraq_flag.svg
| flag_caption = [[Kokbayraq]]
| image =
| image =
| image_caption =
| image_caption =
| population = 200,000<ref>https://dzen.ru/a/Y7nr3SMGQETzz7ag</ref>
| population = 200,000<ref>https://dzen.ru/a/Y7nr3SMGQETzz7ag {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>
| popplace = [[Islamabad]], [[Karachi]], [[Gilgit-Baltistan]], [[Rawalpindi]]
| popplace = [[Islamabad]], [[Karachi]], [[Gilgit-Baltistan]], [[Rawalpindi]]
| langs = [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]]{{·}}[[Urdu]]{{·}}[[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]]{{·}}[[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]{{·}}[[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]]
| langs = [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]]{{·}}[[Urdu]]{{·}}[[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]]{{·}}[[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]{{·}}[[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]]
Line 19: Line 16:
{{Uyghur people}}
{{Uyghur people}}


'''Uyghurs in Pakistan''' are a small community of ethnic [[Uyghurs]] who live in [[Pakistan]] that originate from [[Xinjiang]], [[China]]. Pakistan persisted in its lack of response regarding the ongoing suppression of ethnic Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang.<ref>{{Citation |last=Human Rights Watch |title=Pakistan: Events of 2020 |date=2020-12-21 |url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/pakistan |work=English |access-date=2023-08-08 |language=en}}</ref>
'''Uyghurs in Pakistan''' are a small community of ethnic [[Uyghurs]] who live in [[Pakistan]] that originate from [[Xinjiang]], [[China]].


==Migration history==
==Migration history==
Some members of [[Ethnic minorities in China|ethnic minorities of China]], primarily Muslim [[Uyghurs]] from [[Xinjiang]], have historically migrated to and settled in the northern parts of Pakistan.{{cn|date=July 2023}} The earliest migrants, numbering in the thousands, came in as traders during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the area that is Pakistan was still under British rule. Most of these Uyghurs used to have warehouses and residences in towns in the North and in parts of upper Punjab and used to travel between Kashgar and Yarkand and these places, regularly.{{citation needed|date=July 2011}} Others came in the 1940s in fear of [[People's Liberation Army invasion of Xinjiang (1949)|communist persecution]].<ref name="Rahman2005p60">{{harvnb|Rahman|2005|p=60}}</ref> A few hundred more fled to Pakistan in the aftermath of a failed uprising in [[Khotan]] in 1954.<ref>{{harvnb|Rahman|2005|p=50}}</ref> Later waves of migration came in 1963 and again in 1974.<ref name="DailyTimes20040529">{{citation|periodical=Daily Times|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-5-2004_pg7_4|date=2004-05-29|access-date=2009-03-25|title=China says terrorists from Xinjiang hiding in Pakistan|last=Ali|first=Wajahat}}</ref> Some Pakistani descendants who previously lived in Xinjiang, especially at [[Kashgar]], have also moved back to Pakistan with their Uyghur spouses.<ref>{{citation|url=https://thediplomat.com/2013/12/from-uyghurs-to-kashgari/?allpages=yes|title=From Uyghurs to Kashgari: A Pakistani community finds itself caught between two worlds|work=The Diplomat|date=20 December 2013|access-date=15 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/661788176/my-family-has-been-broken-pakistanis-fear-for-uighur-wives-held-in-china|title='My Family Has Been Broken': Pakistanis Fear For Uighur Wives Held In China|work=NPR|date=15 November 2018|access-date=1 April 2020|first=Diaa|last=Hadid}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1669684/china-frees-lost-uighur-wives-but-at-a-price-families-say|title=China frees 'lost' Uighur wives but at a price, families say|work=Bangkok Post|date=30 April 2019|access-date=12 April 2020}}</ref>
Some members of [[Ethnic minorities in China|ethnic minorities of China]], primarily Muslim [[Uyghurs]] from [[Xinjiang]], have historically migrated to and settled in the northern parts of Pakistan.<ref name="Huanqiu">{{citation|url=http://www.chinaqw.com/hqhr/hrdt/200907/19/172004.shtml|periodical=Global Times Chinese Edition|title=巴基斯坦维族华人领袖:新疆维族人过得比我们好/Pakistan Uyghur leader: Xinjiang Uyghurs live better than us|date=2009-07-19|access-date=2009-09-14|last=Sun|first=Jincheng}}</ref> The earliest migrants, numbering in the thousands, came in as traders during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the area that is Pakistan was still under British rule. Most of these Uyghurs used to have warehouses and residences in towns in the North and in parts of upper Punjab and used to travel between Kashgar and Yarkand and these places, regularly.{{citation needed|date=July 2011}} Others came in the 1940s in fear of [[People's Liberation Army invasion of Xinjiang (1949)|communist persecution]].<ref name="Rahman2005p60">{{harvnb|Rahman|2005|p=60}}</ref> A few hundred more fled to Pakistan in the aftermath of a failed uprising in [[Khotan]] in 1954.<ref>{{harvnb|Rahman|2005|p=50}}</ref> Later waves of migration came in 1963 and again in 1974.<ref name="DailyTimes20040529">{{citation|periodical=Daily Times|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-5-2004_pg7_4|date=2004-05-29|access-date=2009-03-25|title=China says terrorists from Xinjiang hiding in Pakistan|last=Ali|first=Wajahat}}</ref> Some Pakistani descendants who previously lived in Xinjiang, especially at [[Kashgar]], have also moved back to Pakistan with their Uyghur spouses.<ref>{{citation|url=https://thediplomat.com/2013/12/from-uyghurs-to-kashgari/?allpages=yes|title=From Uyghurs to Kashgari: A Pakistani community finds itself caught between two worlds|work=The Diplomat|date=20 December 2013|access-date=15 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/661788176/my-family-has-been-broken-pakistanis-fear-for-uighur-wives-held-in-china|title='My Family Has Been Broken': Pakistanis Fear For Uighur Wives Held In China|work=NPR|date=15 November 2018|access-date=1 April 2020|first=Diaa|last=Hadid}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1669684/china-frees-lost-uighur-wives-but-at-a-price-families-say|title=China frees 'lost' Uighur wives but at a price, families say|work=Bangkok Post|date=30 April 2019|access-date=12 April 2020}}</ref>


Beginning in the 1980s, Pakistan began to become a major transit point for Uyghurs going on the ''[[hajj]]''; the temporary Uyghur settlements that formed there became the focal points of later, more permanent communities, as Uyghurs returning from their pilgrimage or from further studies at schools in Egypt and Saudi Arabia decided to settle down in Pakistan rather than return to China.<ref>{{harvnb|Haider|2005|pp=525–6}}</ref> {{asof|2020}}, community leaders estimated their total numbers at 2,000<ref name=aljazeera>{{cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/pakistan-uighurs-report-intimidation-lament-china-ties-190113223009841.html|title='China is after us': Uighurs in Pakistan report intimidation|work=Al Jazeera|date=15 January 2019|access-date=1 April 2020|first=Maija|last=Liuhto}}</ref> to 3,000 people, with 800 at [[Gilgit]], another 2,000 at [[Rawalpindi]], 100 at the border town of [[Sust]] on the [[Karakoram Highway]] and the remainder scattered throughout the rest of the country.{{cn|date=July 2023}}
Beginning in the 1980s, Pakistan began to become a major transit point for Uyghurs going on the ''[[hajj]]''; the temporary Uyghur settlements that formed there became the focal points of later, more permanent communities, as Uyghurs returning from their pilgrimage or from further studies at schools in Egypt and Saudi Arabia decided to settle down in Pakistan rather than return to China.<ref>{{harvnb|Haider|2005|pp=525–6}}</ref> {{asof|2020}}, community leaders estimated their total numbers at 2,000<ref name=aljazeera>{{cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/pakistan-uighurs-report-intimidation-lament-china-ties-190113223009841.html|title='China is after us': Uighurs in Pakistan report intimidation|work=Al Jazeera|date=15 January 2019|access-date=1 April 2020|first=Maija|last=Liuhto}}</ref> to 3,000 people, with 800 at [[Gilgit]], another 2,000 at [[Rawalpindi]], 100 at the border town of [[Sust]] on the [[Karakoram Highway]] and the remainder scattered throughout the rest of the country.<ref name="Huanqiu"/>


==Social integration==
==Social integration==
China has been suspicious of some members of the Uyghur community in Pakistan, viewing them as supporters of the [[East Turkestan independence movement]]. Pakistan has given them a friendly reception, but rejects any promotion of separatism or anything that challenges another country's sovereign integrity.<ref>{{harvnb|Haider|2005|p=526}}</ref> Many Uyghurs in Pakistan run small businesses.<ref name="Rahman2005p60"/> In recent years, they have moved into the import-export field, buying [[Chinese ceramics]], textiles, and other products from [[Xinjiang]] for resale in Pakistan.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.musilin.net.cn/baike/2009/0223/article_6554.html|date=2009-02-23|access-date=2009-07-26|periodical=Broadcasting Corporation of China|title=巴基斯坦北部华裔维吾尔人/Uyghurs of China in Northern Pakistan}}</ref> The Uyghur community are usually well-integrated into Pakistani society. Intermarriage is common now, and most prefer to speak [[Urdu]] rather than [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]].<ref name="Rahman2005p60"/>
China has been suspicious of some members of the Uyghur community in Pakistan, viewing them as supporters of the [[East Turkestan independence movement]]. Pakistan has given them a friendly reception, but rejects any promotion of separatism or anything that challenges another country's sovereign integrity.<ref>{{harvnb|Haider|2005|p=526}}</ref> Many Uyghurs in Pakistan run small businesses.<ref name="Rahman2005p60"/> In recent years, they have moved into the import-export field, buying [[Chinese ceramics]], textiles, and other products from [[Xinjiang]] for resale in Pakistan.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.musilin.net.cn/baike/2009/0223/article_6554.html|date=2009-02-23|access-date=2009-07-26|periodical=Broadcasting Corporation of China|title=巴基斯坦北部华裔维吾尔人/Uyghurs of China in Northern Pakistan}}</ref> The Uyghur community are usually well-integrated into Pakistani society. Intermarriage is common now, and most prefer to speak [[Urdu]] rather than [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]].<ref name="Rahman2005p60"/>


Rights groups claim that a staggering number exceeding one million Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking minorities have been involuntarily confined in a system of internment camps, labeled as "re-education centers" by the Chinese government. The Uighur community is claimed to have endured curfews, profiling, and a presence of security forces to root out Islamist militias that threaten the social stability of the PRC. Some claims of policies allowing the influx of outsiders into their ancestral lands have further contributed to a sense of confinement and imprisonment felt by the Uighur population.<ref>{{Cite news |url-status=live |archive-date=Jul 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715114333/https://www.eurasiantimes.com/kashmir-or-uighur-pakistan-concerned-for-kashmiri-muslims-but-ignoring-chinas-uighur-muslims/ |website=www.eurasiantimes.com |date=August 7, 2020 |language=en |access-date=4 August 2023 |title=Pakistan Concerned For Muslims In Kashmir But Apathetic Towards Chinese Uighur Muslims |url=https://www.eurasiantimes.com/kashmir-or-uighur-pakistan-concerned-for-kashmiri-muslims-but-ignoring-chinas-uighur-muslims/}}</ref>


===Terrorism and extremism===
However, ambassadors from up to fifty Muslim majority countries, including Pakistan, have contested the claims of human rights abuses, citing a number of measures by the Chinese government to improve the condition of Uyghurs, including providing mandatory education in both [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] and [[Uyghur language]] as well as Uyghur culture. Additional measures to keep Uyghurs de-radicalized and provide modern education, job opportunities and social integration into Chinese society; which includes freedom of religion but permitted only in mosques and private homes.<ref>https://leftreviewonline.com/english/international/fifty-ambassadors-throw-weight-behind-china-xinjiang.html</ref>



===Terrorism===
{{See also|War in Northwest Pakistan}}
{{See also|War in Northwest Pakistan}}
A number of Uyghurs residing in Pakistan; especially remote northwestern mountainous tribal areas were believed to have been engaged in militancy and carrying out terrorist attacks on military and civilian targets.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-uighurs-idUSBREA2D0PF20140314|title=From his Pakistan hideout, Uighur leader vows revenge on China|work=Saud Mehsud, Maria Golovnina|publisher=Reuters}}</ref> China claimed that members of the [[East Turkestan Islamic Movement]] have taken refuge in [[Lahore]].<ref name="DailyTimes20040529"/> In 1997, fourteen Uyghur students with Chinese citizenship were studying in Pakistan were deported back to China after they organised a sympathy protest in support of [[Ghulja Incident|riots in Ghulja]]; [[Amnesty International]] claims that they were executed.<ref name="Haider 2005 535">{{harvnb|Haider|2005|p=535}}</ref> In 2009, another nine Uyghur militants captured in [[Waziristan]] were extradited to China.<ref>{{citation|url=http://dailymailnews.com/200904/28/news/dmheadlinepage02.html|date=2009-04-28|access-date=2010-05-11|title=Nine Uyghur militants extradited to China|periodical=The Daily Mail|location=Pakistan}}</ref>
A number of Uyghurs residing in Pakistan; especially remote northwestern mountainous tribal areas have been engaged in militancy and carrying out terrorist attacks on local military and civilian targets.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-uighurs-idUSBREA2D0PF20140314|title=From his Pakistan hideout, Uighur leader vows revenge on China|work=Saud Mehsud, Maria Golovnina|publisher=Reuters}}</ref> China claimed that members of the [[East Turkestan Islamic Movement]] have taken refuge in [[Lahore]].<ref name="DailyTimes20040529"/> In 1997, fourteen Uyghur students with Chinese nationality studying in Pakistan were deported back to China after they organised a sympathy protest in support of [[Ghulja Incident|riots in Ghulja]]; [[Amnesty International]] claims that they were executed.<ref name="Haider 2005 535">{{harvnb|Haider|2005|p=535}}</ref> In 2009, another nine Uyghur militants captured in [[Waziristan]] were extradited to China.<ref>{{citation|url=http://dailymailnews.com/200904/28/news/dmheadlinepage02.html|date=2009-04-28|access-date=2010-05-11|title=Nine Uyghur militants extradited to China|periodical=The Daily Mail|location=Pakistan}}</ref>


As of 2015, the Pakistani government asserted that Uyghur militants were no longer present in the [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas|tribal areas]] of northwest Pakistan after numerous counter-terrorism operations by the paramilitary and formal armed forces.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/974921/uighur-militants-eliminated-from-pakistan-asif/|title=Uighur militants eliminated from Pakistani territory: Asif|work=The Express Tribune|date=18 October 2015|access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref>
As of 2015, the Pakistani government asserted that Uyghur militants were no longer present in the [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas|tribal areas]] of northwest Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/974921/uighur-militants-eliminated-from-pakistan-asif/|title=Uighur militants eliminated from Pakistani territory: Asif|work=The Express Tribune|date=18 October 2015|access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref>


==Community organisations==
==Community organisations==
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==Notable people==
==Notable people==
*[[Abdul Rasul (Uyghur)|Abdul Rasul]], Pakistani citizen of Uyghur ethnicity, leader of the [[Asian Muslims Human Rights Bureau]].<ref name=SouthAsiaAnalysisGroup1998-12-22>{{citation |url=http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers%5Cpaper22.html | title=Osama bin Laden: Rumblings in Afghanistan | date=1998-12-22 | author=B. Raman | publisher=[[South Asia Analysis Group]] | access-date=2009-06-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613121935/http://southasiaanalysis.org/papers/paper22.html | archive-date=13 June 2010 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=SouthAsiaAnalysisGroup1999-03-14>{{citation |url=http://www.saag.org/common/uploaded_files/paper41.html | title=Continuing unrest in Xinjiang: An Update | date=1999-03-14 | author=B. Raman | publisher=[[South Asia Analysis Group]] | access-date=2009-06-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614083419/http://www.saag.org/common/uploaded_files/paper41.html | archive-date=14 June 2011 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref>
*[[Abdul Rasul (Uyghur)|Abdul Rasul]], Pakistani citizen of Uyghur ethnicity, leader of the [[Asian Muslims Human Rights Bureau]].<ref name=SouthAsiaAnalysisGroup1998-12-22>{{citation |url=http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers%5Cpaper22.html | title=Osama bin Laden: Rumblings in Afghanistan | date=1998-12-22 | author=B. Raman | publisher=[[South Asia Analysis Group]] | access-date=2009-06-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613121935/http://southasiaanalysis.org/papers/paper22.html | archive-date=13 June 2010 | url-status=usurped | df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=SouthAsiaAnalysisGroup1999-03-14>{{citation |url=http://www.saag.org/common/uploaded_files/paper41.html | title=Continuing unrest in Xinjiang: An Update | date=1999-03-14 | author=B. Raman | publisher=[[South Asia Analysis Group]] | access-date=2009-06-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614083419/http://www.saag.org/common/uploaded_files/paper41.html | archive-date=14 June 2011 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref>
* [[Hakim Said]], Pakistani herbalist.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yu6LvrhQst4C&q=hakim+said+herbalist&pg=PA263|title=Dateline Islamabad|first=Amit|last=Baruah|date=6 August 2007|publisher=Penguin Books India|via=Google Books|isbn=9780143102465}}</ref>
* [[Hakim Said]], Pakistani herbalist.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yu6LvrhQst4C&q=hakim+said+herbalist&pg=PA263|title=Dateline Islamabad|first=Amit|last=Baruah|date=6 August 2007|publisher=Penguin Books India|via=Google Books|isbn=9780143102465}}</ref>
* [[Sadia Rashid]], Pakistani academic.<ref>{{cite news |title=Promoting Japanese culture: Japan confers prestigious award on Hamdard chief |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1902525/1-promoting-japanese-culture-japan-confers-prestigious-award-hamdard-chief/|date=3 February 2019}}</ref>
* [[Sadia Rashid]], Pakistani academic.<ref>{{cite news |title=Promoting Japanese culture: Japan confers prestigious award on Hamdard chief |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1902525/1-promoting-japanese-culture-japan-confers-prestigious-award-hamdard-chief/|date=3 February 2019}}</ref>
Line 57: Line 49:
* [[Chinese people in Pakistan]]
* [[Chinese people in Pakistan]]
* [[List of Uyghurs]]
* [[List of Uyghurs]]
* [[Uzbeks in Pakistan]]


==References==
==References==
Line 68: Line 59:


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
*{{cite web|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/974921/uighur-militants-eliminated-from-pakistan-asif|title=Uighur militants eliminated from Pakistani territory: Asif|agency=Reuters|publisher=The Express Tribune}}
*{{cite web|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/974921/uighur-militants-eliminated-from-pakistan-asif|title=Uighur militants eliminated from Pakistani territory: Asif|date=18 October 2015 |agency=Reuters|publisher=The Express Tribune}}
*{{cite web|url=https://www.samaa.tv/news/2015/10/pakistan-says-has-eliminated-uighur-militants-from-territory/|title=Pakistan says has eliminated Uighur militants from territory|agency=Reuters|publisher=Samaa TV}}
*{{cite web|url=https://www.samaa.tv/news/2015/10/pakistan-says-has-eliminated-uighur-militants-from-territory/|title=Pakistan says has eliminated Uighur militants from territory|agency=Reuters|publisher=Samaa TV}}



Revision as of 13:25, 29 August 2024

Uyghurs in Pakistan
  • پاكىستاندىكى ئۇيغۇرلار (Uyghur)
  • پاکستان میں اویغور (Urdu)
Total population
200,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
Islamabad, Karachi, Gilgit-Baltistan, Rawalpindi
Languages
Uyghur · Urdu · Mandarin · Punjabi · Kashmiri
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Uzbeks, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz

Uyghurs in Pakistan are a small community of ethnic Uyghurs who live in Pakistan that originate from Xinjiang, China.

Migration history

Some members of ethnic minorities of China, primarily Muslim Uyghurs from Xinjiang, have historically migrated to and settled in the northern parts of Pakistan.[2] The earliest migrants, numbering in the thousands, came in as traders during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the area that is Pakistan was still under British rule. Most of these Uyghurs used to have warehouses and residences in towns in the North and in parts of upper Punjab and used to travel between Kashgar and Yarkand and these places, regularly.[citation needed] Others came in the 1940s in fear of communist persecution.[3] A few hundred more fled to Pakistan in the aftermath of a failed uprising in Khotan in 1954.[4] Later waves of migration came in 1963 and again in 1974.[5] Some Pakistani descendants who previously lived in Xinjiang, especially at Kashgar, have also moved back to Pakistan with their Uyghur spouses.[6][7][8]

Beginning in the 1980s, Pakistan began to become a major transit point for Uyghurs going on the hajj; the temporary Uyghur settlements that formed there became the focal points of later, more permanent communities, as Uyghurs returning from their pilgrimage or from further studies at schools in Egypt and Saudi Arabia decided to settle down in Pakistan rather than return to China.[9] As of 2020, community leaders estimated their total numbers at 2,000[10] to 3,000 people, with 800 at Gilgit, another 2,000 at Rawalpindi, 100 at the border town of Sust on the Karakoram Highway and the remainder scattered throughout the rest of the country.[2]

Social integration

China has been suspicious of some members of the Uyghur community in Pakistan, viewing them as supporters of the East Turkestan independence movement. Pakistan has given them a friendly reception, but rejects any promotion of separatism or anything that challenges another country's sovereign integrity.[11] Many Uyghurs in Pakistan run small businesses.[3] In recent years, they have moved into the import-export field, buying Chinese ceramics, textiles, and other products from Xinjiang for resale in Pakistan.[12] The Uyghur community are usually well-integrated into Pakistani society. Intermarriage is common now, and most prefer to speak Urdu rather than Uyghur.[3]


Terrorism and extremism

A number of Uyghurs residing in Pakistan; especially remote northwestern mountainous tribal areas have been engaged in militancy and carrying out terrorist attacks on local military and civilian targets.[13] China claimed that members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement have taken refuge in Lahore.[5] In 1997, fourteen Uyghur students with Chinese nationality studying in Pakistan were deported back to China after they organised a sympathy protest in support of riots in Ghulja; Amnesty International claims that they were executed.[14] In 2009, another nine Uyghur militants captured in Waziristan were extradited to China.[15]

As of 2015, the Pakistani government asserted that Uyghur militants were no longer present in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan.[16]

Community organisations

Omar Uyghur Trust

Omar and Akbar Khan, two Uyghur brothers in Pakistan, set up a cultural organisation, the Omar Uyghur Trust, to educate their community's children in the Uyghur language and culture.[17]

Guesthouses

Pakistan also used to have a number of Uyghur community reception centres.[18] Kashgarabad, located in Islamabad, was run by wealthy Uyghur traders. Anwar ul-Ulum Abu Hanifa Madrassah was run by a man named Sheikh Serajuddin in Rawalpindi.[19] A third, Hotanabad, was also located near Islamabad.[18] Hotanabad was shut down in December 2000, a situation which the Uyghur American Association also attributes to pressure from China, which expressed concerns about these centers of facilitating recruitment for extremism against Beijing.[14] Kashgarabad and Hotanabad both suffered another shutdown in 2006.[18]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ https://dzen.ru/a/Y7nr3SMGQETzz7ag [bare URL]
  2. ^ a b Sun, Jincheng (19 July 2009), "巴基斯坦维族华人领袖:新疆维族人过得比我们好/Pakistan Uyghur leader: Xinjiang Uyghurs live better than us", Global Times Chinese Edition, retrieved 14 September 2009
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Further reading