Uyghurs in Pakistan
Uyghur: پاكىستاندىكى ئۇيغۇرلار
Urdu: پاکستان میں اویغور
Kokbayraq
Total population
200,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
Islamabad, Karachi, Gilgit-Baltistan, Rawalpindi
Languages
Uyghur · Urdu · Mandarin · Punjabi · Kashmiri
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Uzbeks, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz

Uyghurs in Pakistan are a small community of ethnic Uyghurs who live in Pakistan that originate from Xinjiang, China.

Migration history

Some members of ethnic minorities of China, primarily Muslim Uyghurs from Xinjiang, have historically migrated to and settled in the northern parts of Pakistan.[2] The earliest migrants, numbering in the thousands, came in as traders during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the area that is Pakistan was still under British rule. Most of these Uyghurs used to have warehouses and residences in towns in the North and in parts of upper Punjab and used to travel between Kashgar and Yarkand and these places, regularly. Others came in the 1940s in fear of communist persecution.[3] A few hundred more fled to Pakistan in the aftermath of a failed uprising in Khotan in 1954.[4] Later waves of migration came in 1963 and again in 1974.[5] Some Pakistani descendants who previously lived in Xinjiang, especially at Kashgar, have also moved back to Pakistan with their Uyghur spouses.[6][7][8]

Beginning in the 1980s, Pakistan began to become a major transit point for Uyghurs going on the hajj; the temporary Uyghur settlements that formed there became the focal points of later, more permanent communities, as Uyghurs returning from their pilgrimage or from further studies at schools in Egypt and Saudi Arabia decided to settle down in Pakistan rather than return to China.[9] As of 2020, community leaders estimated their total numbers at 2,000[10] to 3,000 people, with 800 at Gilgit, another 2,000 at Rawalpindi, 100 at the border town of Sust on the Karakoram Highway and the remainder scattered throughout the rest of the country.[2]

Social integration

China has been suspicious of some members of the Uyghur community in Pakistan, viewing them as supporters of the East Turkestan independence movement. Pakistan has given them a friendly reception, but rejects any promotion of separatism or anything that challenges another country's sovereign integrity.[11] Many Uyghurs in Pakistan run small businesses.[3] In recent years, they have moved into the import-export field, buying Chinese ceramics, textiles, and other products from Xinjiang for resale in Pakistan.[12] The Uyghur community are usually well-integrated into Pakistani society. Intermarriage is common now, and most prefer to speak Urdu rather than Uyghur.[3]


Terrorism and extremism

A number of Uyghurs residing in Pakistan; especially remote northwestern mountainous tribal areas have been engaged in militancy and carrying out terrorist attacks on local military and civilian targets.[13] China claimed that members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement have taken refuge in Lahore.[5] In 1997, fourteen Uyghur students with Chinese nationality studying in Pakistan were deported back to China after they organised a sympathy protest in support of riots in Ghulja; Amnesty International claims that they were executed.[14] In 2009, another nine Uyghur militants captured in Waziristan were extradited to China.[15]

As of 2015, the Pakistani government asserted that Uyghur militants were no longer present in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan.[16]

Community organisations

Omar Uyghur Trust

Omar and Akbar Khan, two Uyghur brothers in Pakistan, set up a cultural organisation, the Omar Uyghur Trust, to educate their community's children in the Uyghur language and culture.[17]

Guesthouses

Pakistan also used to have a number of Uyghur community reception centres.[18] Kashgarabad, located in Islamabad, was run by wealthy Uyghur traders. Anwar ul-Ulum Abu Hanifa Madrassah was run by a man named Sheikh Serajuddin in Rawalpindi.[19] A third, Hotanabad, was also located near Islamabad.[18] Hotanabad was shut down in December 2000, a situation which the Uyghur American Association also attributes to pressure from China, which expressed concerns about these centers of facilitating recruitment for extremism against Beijing.[14] Kashgarabad and Hotanabad both suffered another shutdown in 2006.[18]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://dzen.ru/a/Y7nr3SMGQETzz7ag
  2. 1 2 Sun, Jincheng (19 July 2009), "巴基斯坦维族华人领袖：新疆维族人过得比我们好/Pakistan Uyghur leader: Xinjiang Uyghurs live better than us", Global Times Chinese Edition, retrieved 14 September 2009
  3. 1 2 3 Rahman 2005, p. 60
  4. ↑ Rahman 2005, p. 50
  5. 1 2 Ali, Wajahat (29 May 2004), "China says terrorists from Xinjiang hiding in Pakistan", Daily Times, retrieved 25 March 2009
  6. ↑ "From Uyghurs to Kashgari: A Pakistani community finds itself caught between two worlds", The Diplomat, 20 December 2013, retrieved 15 May 2015
  7. ↑ Hadid, Diaa (15 November 2018). "'My Family Has Been Broken': Pakistanis Fear For Uighur Wives Held In China". NPR. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "China frees 'lost' Uighur wives but at a price, families say". Bangkok Post. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  9. ↑ Haider 2005, pp. 525–6
  10. ↑ Liuhto, Maija (15 January 2019). "'China is after us': Uighurs in Pakistan report intimidation". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  11. ↑ Haider 2005, p. 526
  12. ↑ "巴基斯坦北部华裔维吾尔人/Uyghurs of China in Northern Pakistan", Broadcasting Corporation of China, 23 February 2009, retrieved 26 July 2009
  13. ↑ "From his Pakistan hideout, Uighur leader vows revenge on China". Saud Mehsud, Maria Golovnina. Reuters.
  14. 1 2 Haider 2005, p. 535
  15. ↑ "Nine Uyghur militants extradited to China", The Daily Mail, Pakistan, 28 April 2009, retrieved 11 May 2010
  16. ↑ "Uighur militants eliminated from Pakistani territory: Asif". The Express Tribune. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. ↑ Shohret Hoshur; Shemshidin, Zubeyra (6 April 2010), "Pakistan Uyghurs in Hiding: Brothers blame raids and arrests on pressure from China", Radio Free Asia, retrieved 11 May 2010
  18. 1 2 3 "EDITORIAL: Uighur terrorism in Pakistan", Daily Times (Pakistan), 27 June 2006, retrieved 29 April 2010
  19. ↑ Starr 2004, p. 144
  20. ↑ B. Raman (22 December 1998), Osama bin Laden: Rumblings in Afghanistan, South Asia Analysis Group, archived from the original on 13 June 2010, retrieved 26 June 2009
  21. ↑ B. Raman (14 March 1999), Continuing unrest in Xinjiang: An Update, South Asia Analysis Group, archived from the original on 14 June 2011, retrieved 26 June 2009
  22. ↑ Baruah, Amit (6 August 2007). Dateline Islamabad. Penguin Books India. ISBN 9780143102465 – via Google Books.
  23. ↑ "Promoting Japanese culture: Japan confers prestigious award on Hamdard chief". 3 February 2019.
Sources

Further reading

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