A TALE OF TWO GENOCIDES

“It was the worst of times then, it is the worst of times now, it was the epoch of incredulity then, it is the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Darkness then, it is the season of Darkness now – in short, the period was so far like the present period. “

2. A little tweak to the famous quote by Charles Dickens, and it presents the perfect imagery to draw parallels between the horrors of the Holocaust in the last century and the horrors of the Chinese cruelty against Uyghurs now.

3. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) recently published a report titled ‘Uyghurs for Sale’ where it found that there are practices of forced labour by transferring Uyghurs, and other Turkic people of East Turkistan into Chinese provinces. Additionally, the United States federal authorities have seized a shipment of products made from hair of the Uyghurs in Chinese labor camps.

These camps are used to confine the East Turkic people and go by the misnomer of “re-education camps.” It has been recounted by the Uyghurs and other Turkic people in Xinjiang region of China who have managed to flee that the atheist Chinese officials are forcing the Uyghurs to denounce their religion and language. Upon resistance or failure to meet the orders, they are being beaten or killed.

4. The final judgment delivered by the China Tribunal concludes after thorough investigation and enquiry that China is engaged in forced organ harvesting from the prisoners and people of Uyghur community. East Turkic people are being subjected to such barbarity, yet their screams are unheard by the world.

The Chinese Government, known for its sophisticated surveillance, has kept them silent and hidden. Yet there are a few who managed to escape to tell the world about their horrors.

5. The atrocities faced by the Uyghurs trigger flashbacks of the Holocaust. As Dr. Ernst Bornstein, a Holocaust survivor, in his memoir ‘A Long Night’ recounts the trauma of Nazi concentration camps, where he experienced horrific tragedy of being a forced labourer, removal of head and body hair, incarceration in seven concentration camps and the dreadful Death Marches.

Those who failed to do as told by the SS were instantly shot death. He saw mounds of naked, hairless, pale corpses, a visual that haunted him for the rest of his life.

6. There are reports stating how the Uyghur children are being separated from the families and are being sent to camps where they are made act as child labourer and attend classes meant for indoctrination by the Chinese authorities. There are police in every area resided by the Uyghurs, which largely resemble the ghettos built in Nazi Germany.

7. However, there can be three differences that should be highlighted. First, the Nazi Germany practiced genocide of Jews by keeping them in concentration camps and exterminating them eventually in there.

However, the eugenics practiced by Chinese forces Uyghur women to mate with Han Chinese, thereby, plummeting the population growth rate of the community. One cannot decide which is worse, as both are acts of evil and shocking to the human conscience.

8. For second difference, we need to ask ourselves if we can imagine the horrors of Holocaust coupled with the present technology.

With tracking of the geo-locations and video surveillance, advanced technology for mutilation and organ harvesting, the Uyghurs are victims of the worst kind of human rights violation that the world has ever witnessed.

9. Third, the terrors of the Holocaust have been etched in the human mind, and the world came together and pledged to never allow such crimes against any group or community. To this extent, the countries, including China, drafted and ratified the UN Genocide Convention that proposes harsh measures against the perpetrator of such cruel crimes.

10. Thus, between the Jewish Holocaust by the Nazi Germany and the Uyghur Genocide by Chinese Communist Party, there have been generations raised to never stay silent. It was uttered by Jimmy Carter but vowed by the world that:

11. “Out of our memory, of the Holocaust we must forge an unshakable oath with all civilized people that never again will the world stand silent, never again will the world fail to act in time to prevent this terrible crime of genocide… We must understand that human rights and human dignity are indivisible.”

12. Human rights and human dignity are indivisible. There is nothing to justify these atrocities, neither 75 years ago, nor is it justifiable now. It is time to not let another Holocaust haunt the world history. It is time to shake off the apathy and call out China.

In the words of Hannah Arendt, let’s always remember that “evil thrives on apathy and cannot survive without it”.