We are not terrorists, India should support us: Uyghur leader

A frontline Uyghur leader, who reached India on Wednesday, said that New Delhi should talk to the community and support their struggle against China, instead of viewing them as “terrorists”.

Ilshat Hassan, who lives in exile in the US now, told DH that New Delhi should open a channel of communications with the Uyghurs and support their cause for India’s own security interests. He said that although Uyghurs were Muslims by religion, they had nothing to do with the ‘jihadi’ terrorism and rather belonged to a cultural and religious tradition, which had peace, tolerance and non-violence at its core.  
 
Hassan, the president of the Uyghurs American Association, arrived in India to represent his community in conclave of pro-democracy activists and delegates of ethnic and religious minorities of China. New Delhi earlier issued visa to another Uyghur leader Dolkun Isa to visit India and attend the conference, which will be held at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh – the seat of Tibetan Government-in-Exile – from Thursday. Beijing, however, cried foul, alleging that Isa, chairman of World Uyghur Congress, was a terrorist and had an Interpol Red Notice against him. New Delhi finally cancelled the visa issued to Isa, who fled his homeland in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China in 1997 and is now a citizen of Germany.

Hassan, who insists that his homeland should be called “East Turkestan” and not Xinxiang, said that India, being a democratic nation, should not have “bowed before” communist China and cancelled the visa issued to Isa. “China never came up with any substantial evidence to prove its allegations against Isa. Before granting him citizenship, Germany officially asked China to share evidence about his alleged link with the terrorists.