Posts in "Elkun videos"

A Poem For My Father Who Stayed In His Grave Only 623 Days

Aziz Isa Elkun
Research affiliate, SOAS, University of London

The Chinese government said this was done in order to modernize us, but their true aim was to destroy Uyghur ethnic, cultural and religious identities. I felt as if my father’s body had been brutally torn out of its resting place in our ancestors’ land.

Over the past century, countries have used the tool of nationalism to pursue their own interests. Nationalism is about people, land and the relationship between them. Nationalist propaganda creates a special relationship between a unique people and a particular territory.

The Uyghurs are one of the many peoples who have been left out of this tidy calculation. We are labelled as an “ethnic minority” that suits Chinese version of statehood. China’s policies aim to cut our ties to our land. Uyghur pilgrims are cut off from their places of worship; villages are uprooted from their fields, and families are torn apart. Islam and Uyghur culture are none separated identities of the Uyghurs, therefor they regard the burial place – gravy yard as a holy place that connects the sprits of the generation past and today. Plus, Uyghur graveyard is a symbol of belonging to each other in the Uyghur community that keep connects Uyghurs spiritually, culturally and politically.

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Uyghur activist says: ‘We can call this a genocide’


Channel 4 News:

We spoke to Aziz Isa Elkun, a London-based Uyghur academic and activist.

We started by asking for his reaction to the Chinese Ambassador, who said there was no Uyghur repression in China.

Uyghur academic Aziz Isa Elkun responds to new evidence of detention centres in China after the Chinese Ambassador to Ireland claimed the buildings are “Vocational Training Centres”.

Source:
https://www.channel4.com/news/uyghur-activist-says-we-can-call-this-a-genocide

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Uighurs in China: ‘I didn’t even know if my mum was alive’

BBC London 18 Feb 2020

Aziz Isa Elkun is one of many Uighur Muslims living in London who have been cut off from contacting their families based in Xinjiang. 

Since 2016, China has detained more than one million Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang in what they call “educational centres”.

However, documents seen by the BBC show that these camps use violence and torture to drive Uighurs away from their Islamic beliefs. 

Aziz has several family members in the camps. He wants to be a voice for the Uighur community in the UK and is now calling on the UK Foreign Office to help them find out if their families are alive.

Reporter and producer: Gem O’Reilly; Filmed and edited by Cristian Mantio

Source: BBC London
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-51532812/uighurs-in-china-i-didn-t-even-know-if-my-mum-was-alive
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Published on Elkun website, link:
www.azizisa.org/en/uighurs-in-china-i-didnt-even-know-if-my-mum-was-alive