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Weekly Political and Scientific Newspaper - A Eastern Turkistan News Agency Publication |
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Letter from Motherland: |
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Our brothers in Central Asia must appreciate the value of freedom |
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In my childhood memories I clearly remember that we had been taught to underestimate situation in USSR. I remember that relations of China and USSR were in extremely situation.
Radio, television always were talking about bad state of things in USSR. Wind of changes changed a lot both in Europe and USSR and in the world in general. Within last 10 years Turkic countries in Central Asia have
acquired their independence. Who could omagine a collapse of USSR and breaking it up into independent countries ten years ago? In my opinion, our brothers in Central Asian countries suffered a lot from this
internationalizm policy. Namely, our customs and culture were changed. Now culture and customs of other nations are close to them than our traditions. Forgetting its own mother language means not feeling himself at all.
Many of our brothers do not know their mother tongues and could not understand and share our joys and troubles. Who is guilty of it? Certainly, nobody. The main thing is that now when they acquired this
independence they are to learn how to remain independent. Of course, there are a lot of our brothers, who know and appreciate this independence. But still many of our brothers express their national feelings in very
primitive way, for example, they still divide each other in groups like "you are from Kashgar" and "you are taranchi" (territorial regions in Xinjiang). They do not know how to love their nation,
they do not have patriot feelings and do not respect those people who are for the freedom of its nation. Many of our brothers, who live in Central Asia still hold as a value the origin, the background of people.
Speaking about Eastern Turkestan we can say that since fifties many things changed there, too. During many years Chinese policy was directed to the unification of the nation, namely to the employment, training of
the specialists. Radio, television and press always speaks about national convention (between Cninese and local Uyghurs), about inseparable country ( they say that Chinese people could not separate from smaller nations
and visa-versa), about protection of country (Zhongguo). Chinese culture is promoted everywhere in schools, on television, in radio and press. Presently, many young Uyghur people are ashamed to wear national clothes. It
is even prohibited to wear national clothes in some places because it is considered to be an expression of separatist feelings among local Uyghurs. Less and less people try to promote and teach their children national
customs and traditions. Our brothers in Central Asia do not estimate their opportunity to promote our culture and on contrary try to learn and to imitate traditions and customs of other nations. In Eastern Turkestan we
are trying to observe all traditions like our ansestors did. If we really want to acquire independence we are to gain and obtain it only through education and culture! |
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©1997-2000 ETIC. 13 September, 2000 Des¥gned By Ötuken |
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