IN CHINA’S WILD WEST
Simon Elegant/Khotan
Time, April 17, 2008
While international attention is focused on Tibet, ethnic discord has also been festering in Muslim Xinjiang
"Silk road gem and jade shop," the sign proudly states. Centrally located just down the street from the main mosque in Khotan, a dusty oasis town located in the vast Taklamakan Desert in China's far southwest, the shop is a focal point for the Muslim Uighurs who make up the majority of the local population. But though it is mid-morning, its gates are secured with heavy steel padlocks. Warning notices from the Public Security Bureau are pasted across the doors announcing that the business has been closed indefinitely. Until last month, this was one of the biggest private companies in the city, residents say; its owner was a popular philanthropist. But now pedestrians keep their distance, some averting their eyes when passing. The shop belonged to Mutallip Hajim, a successful Uighur jade trader well known for sponsoring religious-education classes. He was arrested in January for unspecified crimes. On March 3, police announced that the 38-year old had died of a heart attack in prison.
Mutallip was killed by police "because he was too powerful, too influential," claims an Uighur man in his 30s. "Any Uighur who gets to that kind of position will always be arrested." Like many residents of Khotan — the Xinjiang province city is called Hetian in Chinese — the man was clearly anxious not to be seen talking with foreign journalists. He says he knows Mutallip's family, who had told him that several hundred people tried to enter the hospital where Mutallip died but were blocked by police, sparking a melee.
(...) [artículo aquí]
Simon Elegant/Khotan
Time, April 17, 2008
While international attention is focused on Tibet, ethnic discord has also been festering in Muslim Xinjiang
"Silk road gem and jade shop," the sign proudly states. Centrally located just down the street from the main mosque in Khotan, a dusty oasis town located in the vast Taklamakan Desert in China's far southwest, the shop is a focal point for the Muslim Uighurs who make up the majority of the local population. But though it is mid-morning, its gates are secured with heavy steel padlocks. Warning notices from the Public Security Bureau are pasted across the doors announcing that the business has been closed indefinitely. Until last month, this was one of the biggest private companies in the city, residents say; its owner was a popular philanthropist. But now pedestrians keep their distance, some averting their eyes when passing. The shop belonged to Mutallip Hajim, a successful Uighur jade trader well known for sponsoring religious-education classes. He was arrested in January for unspecified crimes. On March 3, police announced that the 38-year old had died of a heart attack in prison.
Mutallip was killed by police "because he was too powerful, too influential," claims an Uighur man in his 30s. "Any Uighur who gets to that kind of position will always be arrested." Like many residents of Khotan — the Xinjiang province city is called Hetian in Chinese — the man was clearly anxious not to be seen talking with foreign journalists. He says he knows Mutallip's family, who had told him that several hundred people tried to enter the hospital where Mutallip died but were blocked by police, sparking a melee.
(...) [artículo aquí]
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