{"id":1286,"date":"2022-01-26T10:50:52","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T10:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/?p=1286"},"modified":"2023-02-27T15:40:11","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T15:40:11","slug":"the-road-of-no-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/the-road-of-no-return\/","title":{"rendered":"The road of no return"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Flo Marks<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
A road through the Taklamakan Desert along the Tarim Basin region. In Uyghur, \u2018takla makan\u2019 means \u2018you can get into it but can never get out\u2019. CREDIT: Michal Sikorski \/ Alamy Stock Photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

THE POEM ROSES<\/strong> is dedicated to the Uyghurs arrested and detained in the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s 21st-century concentration camps in what is officially called the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its author, Uyghur poet, writer and academic Aziz Isa Elkun, grew up in Shahyar county, close to the Tarim river, and did not experience the freedom promised in the region\u2019s colonial name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now 51, he was first arrested as a 16-year-old schoolboy in 1986 when his activism led to him being informally detained and interrogated. His home was ransacked and his earliest journals taken away. He was released after two days, but his parents\u2019 defence of young naivety was unlikely to save him from a prison sentence in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the political climate worsened, with increasing government surveillance and censorship, it became increasingly certain that Aziz, as a young adult who favoured freedom of expression and association, would keep getting into trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

His commitment to these ideals was cemented when he took part in the student movement in Urumqi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The frequent investigations, the threats of imprisonment and his unemployment gave him the impetus to flee the mainland, travelling first to Central Asia, in 1999, and then to Germany, before reaching the UK in 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deciding to become an active member of the diaspora was never free of consequences. Despite living in exile for more than 20 years, Aziz told Index he had never once \u201cstopped worrying\u201d about his friends, family and homeland who he left behind \u201cand remain at the whim of China\u2019s primitive and feudal revenge system\u201d, potentially being punished for his activist work abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, he learned that his sister and cousins had been imprisoned in the camps. He found the grave of his father, who died of natural causes, on Google Maps – but this was later demolished in a wave of cultural genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With communication cut off, he now has no way of knowing the fate of his mother. But he said: \u201cI am a conscious and free human and British citizen. It\u2019s my basic right to exercise freedom of expression and protest; it\u2019s not up to China.\u201d


ROSES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By AZIZ ISA ELKUN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a morning bright with sun<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another new day has started<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I count, altogether twenty-two autumns<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And winters have passed in exile<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I don\u2019t know how many years remain<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I return to the place where I belong<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the earth that my forefathers made home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can feel the sorrow in myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My soul shivers; it\u2019s cold<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I inherited it all from my father<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whenever the memory of the disappeared homeland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returns and occupies my mind<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It inspires me to be human with dignity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Able to call for the survival of a lost nation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Able to appeal for mercy and love<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the world<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The place where I was born<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has turned into a heap of ghostly relics<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It only exists amongst the non-existence<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this world full of selfishness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am sitting in a garden chair<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trying to enjoy the warm sun for a minute<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it is quickly covered by the rushing clouds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A steaming cup of coffee evaporates my gloom<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am still struggling to feel myself<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Believing that better days will come after tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day life will smile on us<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even on the man who writes these lines<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although he lost everything<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travelling on the road of no return<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And lived a second life<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is still a hostage to that place<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He lives with constant fear<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The monster has left countless stains<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has pierced me with needles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But still I call for justice for those<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who have suffered more<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But my spirit is still fighting<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My hope is still alive<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each time I find new courage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It brings the joy of a smile<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it\u2019s autumn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My garden leaves are still green<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first rose I planted three years ago<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To mark my father\u2019s destroyed grave<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second rose I planted<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Mother\u2019s Day last year<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third rose I planted for the unknown Uyghurs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who survive inside the camps<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My roses are blossoming with hope<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singing a song of freedom<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without waiting for the spring<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They remind us<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How beautiful it is to be alive<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To live in peace in our beautiful world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 October 2021, London<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having previously used only a typewriter, learning English and modern technology gave Aziz an unprecedented sense of freedom akin to being \u201creborn\u201d. Yet it simultaneously brought awareness of the extent of censorship and false information surrounding the Uyghurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling it was his calling to debunk the pervasive myth that Uyghurs were a happy minority under the CCP, he has set up 10 websites and platforms and is the director of the Uyghur PEN Revitalisation Project. Written in English and the all-too-rare Uyghur script, these projects aim to share reputable work and information to reach, connect and promote the visibility of the diaspora. This is because, when faced with genocide, he values improving understanding of Uyghur identity, culture, history and current travails as a vital act of resistance and solidarity.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flo Marks<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> is a researcher at Index on Censorship and a Students for Uyghurs Ambassador at the University of Exeter<\/em>

Original source published on the Winter Edition of Index of Censorship<\/strong>‘s Winter magazine 2021. https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full\/10.1177\/03064220211068717<\/a>

Also published by Los Angeles Review of Books<\/strong>:
https:\/\/lareviewofbooks.org\/short-takes\/roses-a-poem-by-a-uyghur-activist<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Flo Marks THE POEM ROSES is dedicated to the Uyghurs arrested and detained in the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s 21st-century concentration camps in what is officially called the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Its author, Uyghur poet, writer and academic Aziz Isa Elkun, grew up in Shahyar county, close to the Tarim river, and did not experience<\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aziz-isa-elkun-poems"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1286"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1323,"href":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions\/1323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azizisa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}