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Worse than Death
Uyghurs are descendants of Turkic peoples, currently facing genocide committed against them in their homeland, East Turkistan. This land has been colonized by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949, creating a police state and renamed Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). In his book, Worse than Reflections on the Uyghur Genocide, Mamtimin Ala explains how Uyghur rights have been diminishing under the authoritarian rule of the CCP, which has recently escalated into the cultural genocide of Uyghurs. Since Xi Jinping became President of the People’s Republic of China in 2013, he has clearly defined his political agenda towards Uyghurs of implementing the Four Breaks intended to “break their lineage, break their roots, break their connections, and break their origins.” The situation has now rapidly deteriorated at an alarming rate. Millions of Uyghur families have been separated with an estimated more than one million Uyghurs being indiscriminately placed in concentration camps, under the guise of “re-education.” Xi has justified this as a fight against the Three Evils (terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism). Uyghurs are subject to forced thought reform, torture, rape, organ harvesting, slave labor, and ultimately death in the shrouded secrecy of the camps in the very eyes of the world. For Uyghurs in exile, they face an endless uncertainty, cut off from their families back home without knowing whether they are alive or dead, and are harassed by Chinese security agents with threats against their family back home if they speak out against these atrocities. The world has to date largely remained silent over this genocide due to economic ties with China in the era of globalization. In reflecting upon this situation, the question Who has the courage to speak up and act against this totalitarian regime of the Chinese Communist Party which is committing one of the worst genocides of the twenty-first century before it is too late to repeat the chilling warning of “Never Again?”
141 pages, Paperback
Published January 14, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 1, 2021
A book that will stay with me for a long time!
An incredibly well written book on a very heavy subject matter. The author Mamtimin Ala is an Uyghur in exile himself, which gave this book a much needed personal dimension in bringing their plight to life. The book had the right balance between academic rigour, explaining complicated concepts to those unfamiliar with the inner workings of the CCP in a way thats easy for the average reader and Ala’s own personal account about how the regime affected him and his family unit.
An incredibly well written book on a very heavy subject matter. The author Mamtimin Ala is an Uyghur in exile himself, which gave this book a much needed personal dimension in bringing their plight to life. The book had the right balance between academic rigour, explaining complicated concepts to those unfamiliar with the inner workings of the CCP in a way thats easy for the average reader and Ala’s own personal account about how the regime affected him and his family unit.
January 16, 2022
This was a difficult read. It informs, educates, and invokes deep empathy. I started off with curiosity, by the middle it was utter misery, felt as if all light had left the world, and by the end it was infuriating but this is not about me.
This is going to be long.
The author starts with his reason, as an exile, for writing this book and then brings to light some facts about what is happening. It ends with the CCP being exposed as hypocritical and tyrannical, a political party who may try to monopolise the entire world if they gets their way.
A street of that monopoly is built on by houses from the Islamic, no, "Muslim" world. A group of nations who so vehemently deny, or feign ignorance, of the Uyghur genocide. And Mamtimin Ala rightfully criticises them for their weakness, that an economic or political alliance lets them not only overlook the genocide but also makes it easy for them to send our brothers and sisters in faith to their tortures and deaths (nothing we have not seen before - Guantanamo has plenty of these examples). A disgraceful deed, betrayal that points to the looseness of morality and ethics that has taken over the Muslim world and why we are so divided and defeated today.
Very interestingly, Mamtimin Ala adds that the timing of the CCP's clamp down was no surprise. The world had already turned a blind eye to the Syrian regime's years of brutality to its Sunni population and even after news of the Uyghurs broke out, people did not react when Aung San Suu Kyi, began to kill the Rohingya population. The hypocrite herself had criticised the Burmese leadership for its lack of diplomacy once, only to do the same when she was given power. So, it came as no surprise that China neither cares about the information being released nor sees why any other nation should get involved in this.
In the end, their weakness of thinking was exposed. That anything that does not agree with China's totalitarianism is an enemy, and the global "War on Terror" alliance allowed them to abuse a word that is abused by all lands today. Terrorist. It allowed them to use an excuse that Uyghurs are extremists who need to be released from brainwashing by being brainwashed in their re-education camps.
It comes down to it that Islam is the enemy and the Muslims have to pay, though the general population of the Uyghurs are by no means at a point of religiosity where they wish to fight the CCP. And after years of torture, a lot of them have not got any fight left in them to resist, as is touched on in the book. The psychology of the oppressed would be very interesting if it was not so depressing, the most important part of it is the loss of hope that anyone can help, that they will be free, and that they will not have to live a life of pain and humiliation in enclosed places.
May Allah give them ease and freedom and allow us to stand up for our brothers and sisters in a way that will matter and actually help. Our words will never do justice to the state they live in and any action we take cannot promise that they will be able to live normal lives ever again. But it is a must that we do stand up. If we are too weak today, then we pray and work for a future with strength enough to defend the oppressed.
I will leave you with some words from the author:
"Is there any hope for Uyghurs in this time of prolonged destruction and profound loss that reaches across generations? They lost their motherland long ago, reluctantly accepting they were collectively captive in their ancestral home. They have now lost their religious rights, heritage, tradition, institutions, and figures, and are forcibly transformed into atheists with Chinese characteristics. They have lost their language, a means of cultural expression that has been used by their ancestors for centuries, as they are forbidden to speak Uyghur. They have lost their next generation, the children who are separated from their parents and deeply traumatized, without knowing what the future holds for them. They have lost their sense of security, living in surveillance state, scrutinized by omnipresent security cameras, tracked down anywhere and anytime. They have lost their minds in the concentration camps and prisons through thought transformation, which has turned them into slaves and, eventually, zombies. They have lost their health while sedated and helpless, as their organs are removed and sold on the market as precious commodities. They have lost their faith in the world, which abandoned them when they needed help most desperately."
This is going to be long.
The author starts with his reason, as an exile, for writing this book and then brings to light some facts about what is happening. It ends with the CCP being exposed as hypocritical and tyrannical, a political party who may try to monopolise the entire world if they gets their way.
A street of that monopoly is built on by houses from the Islamic, no, "Muslim" world. A group of nations who so vehemently deny, or feign ignorance, of the Uyghur genocide. And Mamtimin Ala rightfully criticises them for their weakness, that an economic or political alliance lets them not only overlook the genocide but also makes it easy for them to send our brothers and sisters in faith to their tortures and deaths (nothing we have not seen before - Guantanamo has plenty of these examples). A disgraceful deed, betrayal that points to the looseness of morality and ethics that has taken over the Muslim world and why we are so divided and defeated today.
Very interestingly, Mamtimin Ala adds that the timing of the CCP's clamp down was no surprise. The world had already turned a blind eye to the Syrian regime's years of brutality to its Sunni population and even after news of the Uyghurs broke out, people did not react when Aung San Suu Kyi, began to kill the Rohingya population. The hypocrite herself had criticised the Burmese leadership for its lack of diplomacy once, only to do the same when she was given power. So, it came as no surprise that China neither cares about the information being released nor sees why any other nation should get involved in this.
In the end, their weakness of thinking was exposed. That anything that does not agree with China's totalitarianism is an enemy, and the global "War on Terror" alliance allowed them to abuse a word that is abused by all lands today. Terrorist. It allowed them to use an excuse that Uyghurs are extremists who need to be released from brainwashing by being brainwashed in their re-education camps.
It comes down to it that Islam is the enemy and the Muslims have to pay, though the general population of the Uyghurs are by no means at a point of religiosity where they wish to fight the CCP. And after years of torture, a lot of them have not got any fight left in them to resist, as is touched on in the book. The psychology of the oppressed would be very interesting if it was not so depressing, the most important part of it is the loss of hope that anyone can help, that they will be free, and that they will not have to live a life of pain and humiliation in enclosed places.
May Allah give them ease and freedom and allow us to stand up for our brothers and sisters in a way that will matter and actually help. Our words will never do justice to the state they live in and any action we take cannot promise that they will be able to live normal lives ever again. But it is a must that we do stand up. If we are too weak today, then we pray and work for a future with strength enough to defend the oppressed.
I will leave you with some words from the author:
"Is there any hope for Uyghurs in this time of prolonged destruction and profound loss that reaches across generations? They lost their motherland long ago, reluctantly accepting they were collectively captive in their ancestral home. They have now lost their religious rights, heritage, tradition, institutions, and figures, and are forcibly transformed into atheists with Chinese characteristics. They have lost their language, a means of cultural expression that has been used by their ancestors for centuries, as they are forbidden to speak Uyghur. They have lost their next generation, the children who are separated from their parents and deeply traumatized, without knowing what the future holds for them. They have lost their sense of security, living in surveillance state, scrutinized by omnipresent security cameras, tracked down anywhere and anytime. They have lost their minds in the concentration camps and prisons through thought transformation, which has turned them into slaves and, eventually, zombies. They have lost their health while sedated and helpless, as their organs are removed and sold on the market as precious commodities. They have lost their faith in the world, which abandoned them when they needed help most desperately."
February 1, 2022
Thoroughly enjoyed this. It was passionate and emotional. The author says from the start that this is not an academic analysis. The book is more a stream of consciousness from someone who is very well informed about the subject. It evokes a number of different emotions for the reader. Sometimes it's important to just hear about a subject from a subjective view rooted in humanness. Also, the author writes very well and effectively, which made this even more of an enjoyable and insightful read.
September 23, 2023
A very interesting insight into the Uyghur Genocide. This book highlights the manipulation tactics utilised by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to pit Han Chinese against Uyghur Muslims and other minority groups. We must realise, like this book propounds, that the CCP is pitting victims against each other. All individuals within China are oppressed but their victimhood is distinguished by those in charge. The Han Chinese are given no freedom to critically think, they must obey the CCP, groups like the Uyghurs are utilised as a means of control, they are painted as terrorists, their destruction is utilised through propaganda to give security to the Han Nation. Any acts of protest by Uyghurs is brandished as terrorism and ergo reinforces the need in the Han eyes that their persecution is justified. It highlights the islamaphobic nature of the CCP. Moreover, the timing of the genocide is important, as it fits within the timeline of other incidents of Muslim mass death in both Syria and Yemen.
This book has concretised the notion that the CCP is an extremely dangerous organisation. We must pressure our governments to step away from China and stop funding the cannabilistic CCP. They truly are evil. Not to say other powers are not, but this government is engaging in a fully state endorsed genocide utilising cutting edge technology that is subjugating millions of people. The list of victims also includes the Tibetans, Kazakhs and other Turkic groups.
Again, I would recommend this book. It is short, well written and filled with interesting detail about the spiritual foundations of Confucanism and how this has been manipulated and utilised for the CCP'S benefit.
This book has concretised the notion that the CCP is an extremely dangerous organisation. We must pressure our governments to step away from China and stop funding the cannabilistic CCP. They truly are evil. Not to say other powers are not, but this government is engaging in a fully state endorsed genocide utilising cutting edge technology that is subjugating millions of people. The list of victims also includes the Tibetans, Kazakhs and other Turkic groups.
Again, I would recommend this book. It is short, well written and filled with interesting detail about the spiritual foundations of Confucanism and how this has been manipulated and utilised for the CCP'S benefit.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews