{"id":1994,"date":"2005-07-04T09:55:00","date_gmt":"2005-07-04T14:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?p=1994"},"modified":"2005-07-04T09:55:00","modified_gmt":"2005-07-04T14:55:00","slug":"can_a_poem_get_you_10_years_in_jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2005\/07\/can_a_poem_get_you_10_years_in_jail\/","title":{"rendered":"Censorship in China: Can a poem get you 10 years in jail?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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That\u2019s not chicken you\u2019re eating<\/div>\n

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The poem \u201cWild Pigeon<\/a>,\u201d written by a Muslim poet in China and published by an official Chinese literary publication, seems innocuous enough \u2013 a young pigeon is trapped and caged by humans when he ventures too far from home, and chooses to die rather than be imprisoned for life. However, this poem was published in China\u2019s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region<\/a>, otherwise known as East Turkestan<\/a>, and officials saw in Nurmuhemmet Yasin\u2019s poem a call for Uighur separatism. <\/p>\n

The plight of China\u2019s Muslim minority, which considers itself to have been forcibly integrated<\/a> into China (alas, that bane of Muslim existence, oil, lies under<\/a> their feet), has become worse in recent years as Beijing has implemented measures<\/a> to suppress the Muslim population of 19 million and encourage non-Muslim Han Chinese to settle the area. <\/p>\n

This, in turn, has radicalized some Uighurs and turned them towards militancy<\/a>, which then creates a backlash against the remaining Uighur population. Which brings us back to Mr. Yasin and his poem. After a closed trial<\/a> in February 2005 at which he was not permitted to hire a lawyer, Yasin was sentenced by the Kashgar Intermediate Court to 10 years in jail for inciting Uighur separatism, a sentence which was later upheld on appeal. He has been permitted no visitors, and his personal collection of 1,600 poems and stories has been confiscated. <\/p>\n

Yasin\u2019s story is by no means unique \u2013 similar judgements have been made on other Uighurs for infractions as small as wearing a beard<\/a>. \u201cThe authorities continued to use the international war against terrorism to justify harsh repression in Xinjiang, which continued to result in serious human rights violations against the ethnic Uighur community,\u201d reads<\/a> a report from Amnesty International. \u201cThe authorities continued to make little distinction between acts of violence and acts of passive resistance.\u201d <\/p>\n

While there is little chance that China will restore the independence East Turkestan enjoyed between 1938 and 1949, activists are turning to the Internet and other media sources to keep China\u2019s human rights abuses in check, using Tibetan activism<\/a> as an example. Perhaps the future will see a \u201cUighur Freedom Concert\u201d \u2013 with \u201cWild Pigeon\u201d being set to music by a tanned, rested, and ready Yusuf \u201cCat Stevens\u201d Islam<\/a>?<\/p>\n

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

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n

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