HTI-Press. The delegation of Hizb ut Tahrir Indonesia, on Tuesday (14/7) was received by the Chinese Embassy staff in Jakarta during the solidarity action for the Muslims in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) who were brutally tortured by the Chinese government. The HTI delegation which was led by M Kurnia Rahmat met with the First Secretary of The Chinese Embassy, Pan Zheng Mao.
After being seated in the embassy’s room, the staff offered the delegation to drink mineral water. But they refused to drink. “Sorry, we cannot drink water from people who killed our brothers and sisters in Xinjiang,” said Kurnia Rahmat firmly.
At the beginning of the talk, Pan explained that the victims in Xinjiang were not only the Muslims of Uighur ethnicity but were also from the Han ethnicity. According to him, what was done by the Chinese government was something legal and appropriate because the government prosecuted the criminals. He continued talking to give further explanations.
But Rahmat interrupted, “Sorry, we came here to express our stance. Let us explain. First, we condemn the Chinese government who have slaughtered the Muslims in Xinjiang. Second, we warn the Chinese government to immediately stop the slaughter and the cruel attitude against the Muslims in Xinjiang. Third, we urge China to restore the rights of the Muslims there.”
Hearing such statements, Pan said, “How can we stop the slaughter because we did not do this?” The atmosphere became tense.
“Don’t you see footages on TV showing the slaughter? Don’t you see the images of the veiled mothers who were dragged? Don’t you see a line of army with guns queuing in front of the mosque to deter Muslims to pray?” rebuffed Rahmat in a high tone.
The First Secretary rejected the statement by saying, “The information and the media that you watched was wrong. What actually happened there was not like that.”
“How can it be wrong, while both local and foreign mass media, either Western or Islamic ones reported the incident? We even have a very reliable and trusted source for that.” asserted Rahmat.
“Yes, how can we explain if you do not trust us? China always solves the problem peacefully,” said Pan.
“How can we trust your information, if you do not acknowledge the clear and visible facts? Similarly, big countries always talk about peace, but the fact is mass murder. The United States says to bring peace in Iraq, while the reality is slaughter. Israel states to make peace, but the reality is slaughter. So does China,” Rahmat affirmed.
Pan responded, “Then, if you find trouble to receive our explanation, just ask your government about what happened there. They may not lie to you!”
Rahmat directly replied, “You know, the Indonesian Ambassador in China, Mr. Sudrajat said that Indonesia will not interfere with the Muslim’s problem in Xinjiang. According to him, the problem is the internal affair of China. It is impossible that those who do not care about the slaughter of Muslims in Xinjiang can provide information as it happened!”
Pan was silent for a moment. “Okay, it is clear that China did not do mass murder there,” Pan added trying to convince.
Rahmat, who is the head of the Team (Lajnah) Fa’aliyah said firmly, “You said no slaughter? According to the statistics of residence in 1936, the Kuomintang Republic of China at that time estimated that the number of Muslim residents was more than 48 million. But since they applied the Mao’s policy, the number dropped to only 10 million residents. Where did the 38 million lives go? If genocide did not occur systematically, how could that happen?”
Pan tried to explain again, “That was impossible to happen. We have our own policy in demography. We let every ethnicity produce offspring.”
Muhammad Rahmad then answered, “Ok, stop it. What we want is that the Chinese government ends the killing of Muslims. Hizb ut Tahrir Indonesia asks you to deliver our letter to the Chinese government there.”
Each side tries to refrain. “OK, we will deliver the letter. But please ask your friends outside to stop shouting. They disturb us while we are working,” said the Secretary.
While staring at his eyes, Rahmat said to Pan Zheng Mao, “Hizb ut Tahrir performs the action without violence. You do not deserve to say that you are disturbed just because of the loud speaker. We are not only disturbed by China, we are even very much affected to see and watch our brothers in Xinjiang killed while their rights are grabbed. We will see the progress in the next one or two days. Remember, Muslims are brothers, without being restricted by territorial limits.” Without giving comment, Pan closed the discussion. Then HTI delegation left the room.
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