By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
The US has recently started approving Bills related to Hong Kong and Xinjiang. The US Bill on Hong Kong supports the riots whereas in the Xinjiang Bill, it deals with human rights violations. There will always be some, who would say “sure thing” US is right! Oh dear, stop right here. Protests are legal all over the world but violent protests are banned everywhere. Just name one country who would allow violent public on streets. Similarly, the Hong Kong people have the right to protest but not violent demonstrations which is unacceptable. On the other side, In Xinjiang, if there are Human rights violations, it is condemnable but so far the evidence that the Western Media and Western Powers are presenting never match with the ground realities. As, to what they call torture cells are training and vocational centers. Many delegations have been there, they have seen the so called torture centers and they say the western information on Xinjiang to be nothing but propaganda.
One of those delegations was from Pakistan, this delegation included religious scholars from Peshawar and other parts of the country, Journalists and Editors representing different media outlets, Cultural and Political representatives. Who upon arrival joined other delegations from Central and South Asian countries. The trip was organized last Holy month of Ramadan, in which the delegation members practiced religious rituals together with the local Xinjiang Uyghur Muslims. They visited the so called training centers and talked with the enrolled students both young and adults. They interacted with the young students in primary schools while with the adults at the vocational training centers. Their experiences of spending the Holy Month of Ramadan in Xinjiang are well documented in South and Central Asian media outlets.
And during my two year study in Beijing, I met a lot of students from Xinjiang. In fact, I got best friends from Xinjiang. We talk on daily bases, even though now I have returned to Pakistan. If there were any human rights violations as the west propagate then I would be the first to know. Still, some nerds would say, hey they can’t tell you because of surveillance. Well, what about when I was there and had chitchats daily with my Xingjian’s friends. They were always satisfied and would feel proud to be part of China. They appreciated the progress, prosperity and development of Xinjiang and would show me pictures and videos of their hometowns.
Recently CGTN (China Global Television Network) aired an English-language documentary entitled “Fighting Terrorism in Xinjiang,”, in early December, which exposed the trauma that violent terrorism with backing from the West have brought in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Surprisingly, The Western media remain silent and didn’t give at any attention, though the documentary is available online for Netizens to watch. Also, in this globalized world, where people from other regions are well connected through internet, and thus anyone can easily investigate and examine negative propagandas. those propagandas remain trendy item to on-air in every broadcast outlet, particularly the western media outlets.
The hypocrisy of media remain vigilant to the general audience as they try to beautifully cover up certain fact by either giving misinformation or disinformation whereas the audience never bother to get up from the TV screen or Tablets and go through internet for more information related to the matter. Once, they go online and access different opinions, try to find actual facts and analyzed the overall situation can provide better and authentic picture of reality. Being a student of Mass Communication, working as journalists, and performing duties as peace activist, I never easily believe on what the media display rather I remain on my formula to double and triple checks. This formula should be adopted to counter Western propaganda on Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Therefore, this Western idea on Hong Kong and Xinjiang is absurd. They should first look at their own deeds before pointing fingers on others. The US as an example, the only country to have used Nuclear weapon on people, the country who have long history of African slavery and to this day discrimination towards African Americans. Not to mention the war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea, Syria and other countries and last but not the least the sponsoring of militant groups in Middle East. Though, the list is huge. Country with this background points towards others. Only, dumb will remain blind towards their Hong Kong and Xinjiang propaganda. The world must stop US involvement in others affairs. The world leaders should also be reminded to raise voice over US backing Israeli settlements in Palestine and their backing of militant outfits in different regions. It is essential, if the world want to live in a peaceful coexistence, it is time for the US and the world to realize that multilateralism is the only option for global peace and development. -The author is a staff member of The Daily Mail
