Uyghur people struggle in China

Anwar Yusuf hasn't seen his parents or siblings in 15 years.
"It is impossible for me to return to my homeland," he said. "I would be killed because of what I am doing right now -- telling my different political opinion."
Yusuf, director of the Eastern Turkistan National Freedom Center in Washington, D.C., spoke to students Thursday, Nov. 6, about the political and social issues facing his people, the Uyghurs, in Islamic China.
The Uyghurs are from an autonomous region in northwest China historically known as the land of Eastern Turkistan.
"The people have always been there and have never been Chinese before, but they are now," Yusuf said.
Communist China took control of the area in 1950.
"Since then, the situation became more horrific because of the communist regime," Yusuf said. "The lands of the indigenous people were confiscated by the government, [as well as] their property and clothing. Uyghurs are the worst-liked people if you look at the whole world picture in terms of enjoying human rights, democracy and justice."
Yusuf compared the treatment of the Uyghur people to the treatment of the people under the former Soviet Union communist regime.
"There is a saying in China that 'today's Soviet Union is China's tomorrow,'" Yusuf said. "China says this, but they don't accept this statement as fact because they don't want to end up like the former Soviet Union."
Though the Uyghur people are now considered part of China, Yusuf maintains their cultural independence.
"We are Turkish people by race," he said. "We are not Chinese, even though our people carry Chinese passports and the name of our country is in Chinese right now. We speak Turkish languages and we look Caucasian like European people."
The homeland Yusuf calls Eastern Turkistan is currently known as Sinkiang, meaning "new territory," in Chinese.
But Yusuf said changing the name of the country is just another example of how China is good at changing names.
"That's why you see and hear resentment from indigenous people," he said.
Yusuf explained the situation in scientific terms.
"I am a physics teacher," he said. "Scientifically speaking, the more pressure you apply, the more reaction and the stronger the explosion. That's exactly what is happening in our country now."
The Chinese government views the Uyghur people as separatists and after Sept. 11, 2001, had an excuse to convince the United States and United Nations that terrorist organizations exist in Eastern Turkistan.
Yusuf denies any terrorist affiliations.
"I have never heard of a terrorist organization in my life," Yusuf said. "The people found out who Osama Bin Laden was after Sept. 11. Before that, they didn't know if Osama Bin Laden was a type of tree or animal. They didn't know what the Taliban was. They were under forced persecution."
Yusuf, his wife Gulzighre and their son Turkel performed music and dance at the lecture. Dancing, an outward expression of their religion, is one of the only things they have left, Yusuf said. China is trying to take that away, too.
"According to Chinese legislation, every citizen has the right to religious freedom," Yusuf said. "This is not real. If you look at mosques, there are signs that
restrict entrance to anyone under the age of 18. Everybody must practice his or her own religion in a designated government-recognized mosque."
Yusuf's lecture was sponsored by the Utah Humanities Council, Amnesty International, Asian and Middle East Studies, Eastern Arts and the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies.