Communal tension flares up in Urumqi again
Tensions between the Han Chinese and Uighur Muslim communities in China's Xinjiang province have flared up again. The Hans have accused the Uighurs of stabbing the members of their community, who are caught alone with AIDS infected syringes.
URUMQI, CAPITAL of Xinjiang province of the People's Republic of China is in the news for all the wrong reasons again. Tensions are running high in Urumqi as the Han Chinese and the Uighur Muslims are pitted against each other once again. The Han Chinese took out processions and as many as one thousand men and women reportedly joined to make a common cause and drum their grievance into the ears of the local administration. Wang Lequan, head of the Communist party in Xinjiang was made the culprit here as he failed to protect them from wanton attacks of Uighur Muslims. Some angry demonstrators shouted slogans demanding that Wang's head must roll if he did not resign on his own. The crowds assembled in the People's Square right in front of the government office where Wang Lequan sits and works.
Fortunately, there has been no loss of life or property this time unlike what the situation was in July. The administration has toughened its stand and deployed sufficient force to scare mischief mongers. Of course, the long term solution lies in bringing the two ethnic groups - Han Chinese and Uighur Muslims - closer to each other. However, few seem to be thinking along these lines. Meanwhile, the central government in Beijing is embarrassed as the world media, both print and electronic, have focused on the ethnic tensions in Urumqi. Moreover, on October 1, 2009, China will celebrate her 60th anniversary of the Communist take over of the country after a civil war. Naturally, the central government would be happier if only good news emanates from the country. Merinews.com had the privilege to be among the first few news portals to have carried an authentic story of the ethnic riots that had broken out in the province in early July 2009. As many as 200 plus citizens had perished here and President Hu Jintao had to cut short his international tour where he had met some heads of state of major powers to solve the problems resulting from the global economic downturn. His presence in Beijing was considered essential to take prompt and far reaching decisions as the head of the state. Of course, what the authorities had done then was termed as fire fighting to douse the flames and no concrete steps were taken to solve the recurring problem of ethnic tensions.
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