Last week's riots in the streets of Urumqi have brought someserious realities to the fore. One, innocent lives were lost,and the people responsible are not the lawless arsonists andgangs of roaming street hooligans but the leaders of the PRC.The leaders of the PRC have learnt nothing from last year'sorchestrated riots in the streets of Lhasa. There, innocentlives were lost too and their properties burnt.More than ever, the leaders of the PRC are going overtime incavorting and frolicking and generally going about trying tomake love with foreign leaders, especially those in the West.The leaders in the West only view them as nothing more thanpolitical prostitues, trying to win favour and approval foreven more dazzling GDP growth and the accompanying applause.On 12 July, our local station ran a programme reviewing theunrest in Urumqi and the 'conclusion' was it was caused by'oppression and discrimination'. The PRC leaders should nowexplain if the republic has passed and practised laws to sucheffect. To oppress and discriminate against minorities.In many countries, including the US, laws were passed to allowdiscrimination and prosecution of minorities, especially in thecase of discrimination against people of Chinese descent. Insome of these countries, such laws are still in force even today.Perhaps the PRC is among one of these countries.In Urumqi, just as in Lhasa, the video cameras and the sideshowfreaks were out in force. Interviews and closed up shots andvideos showing emotionally charged actors and their supportingcast were made and distributed and worldwide anger aroused.PRC flags were set on fire and embassies attacked and foreignpoliticians were quick to issue denunciations. Surprising, thosesimilar street unrests in Kashmir did not merit such treatment.In many street unrests around the world which target minorities,especially minorities of Asian or Chinese descent, propertieswere set on fire and innocent people injured or murdered. Thelocal police were usually helpless and now in the PRC, the samething has occurred. Los Angeles, Jakarta, Medan, Kuala Lumpur,Tonga, Solomon Islands and many other places have witnessedsuch happenings. And now, places like Lhasa and Urumqi have joinedthe list. While the PRC leaders could do nothing for farawayplaces, at least they should have guaranteed protection, safetyand the rule of law for places inside the PRC. But they failedto do so.Another stark reality is the response of world voices like theUN chief and that of the White House. Such voices carried theimplied message that the PRC was at fault. Therefore, the PRCwas in the same class or league as Darfur or Bosnia and in thefuture, UN intervention might be necessary. Since the Coalitionforces are just nearby in Afghanistan, these troops could beuseful as the spearhead of a peacekeeping UN force.This possibility could only come about due to the reckless anddirectionless leadership of the PRC. And today, nothing has so
Leave a Comment