Library for a Lost Land - (Harvard Crimson)

By Kaiser Mejit Kaiser Mejit is a graduate of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. November 10, 2020 Although I had studied at Widener Library in my days as a student at Harvard, I admit I had not searched for magazines or books published in the Uighur language. But this winter, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit our country, I finally did. I visited Widener in search of the first modern Uighur translation of “Qutadğu Bilig,” or “Wisdom of Royal Glory,” an 11th century work written by Yūsuf Khass Hajib Balasaguni for the prince of Kashgar, an ancient city where I was also born. As someone who studied Economics, I was curious about the economic ideas of our ancestors who had lived one thousand years ago, and I hoped to find the seeds of those ideas in “Qutadğu Bilig.” At Widener, I did find the book — along with many Uighur books and magazines, such as “Tarim” and “Tangritagh.” I had not realized there would be several renowned Uighur literature magazines with almost full series at Harvard. Like one who can easily recognize his own footprints from the roads he has previously walked, after seeing those familiar works, I started to read them. What made me shed tears was coming across several of my own poems and prose published in these magazines. I had written them before I moved to the United States in 1997, but I had not kept copies, believing mistakenly I would have access to them forever. Flipping through page after page of Uighur literature, I felt as if I was reconnecting with a long-lost friend. Yet I was also struggling to reconcile the reality that Uighurs face today with the relatively good old days of the 1980s and early 1990s, when the Uighur language was flourishing and young Uighurs like me were hopeful about their future. What is in danger in today’s China is not just the Uighur language itself but the existence and future of the Uighur people. Perhaps no one is suffering as severely as the Uighurs in the contemporary world. Since 2017, the Chinese government has placed hundreds of thousands — likely even more than 1.5 million — Uighur, Kazakh, and other Muslim minorities in internment camps. Often these people are subjected to forced labor or separation from their families. Due to the Chinese government’s heinous policies in violation of international norms and rules, an ethnic group that contributed significantly to the ancient Silk Road economy and enriched Central Asian civilization for more than a millennium is not only progressing, but regressing in the 21st century. I have written before about my people and the dire situation they are facing. But nothing on the ground has improved for them at all. Thousands of Uighur scholars like Rahile Dawut and Yalqun Rozi; young Uighur entrepreneurs like Ekpar Asat; and Uighur publishing executives have not been released from their detainments yet. At this moment, when it is impossible to receive Uighur books or magazines from Urumqi and Uighurs abroad are unable to contact loved ones, I, a Harvardian of Uighur origin, find some comfort from what Harvard has done for my people. Last year, when I met with Professor Mark C. Elliott, Harvard’s Vice Provost of International Affairs, I was heartened to hear that Harvard hired a full-time Preceptor in the Uighur language. This March, when I found those Uighur literature magazines, even some containing my own poems, in the Harvard libraries, I felt very grateful for the people at Harvard who chose to acquire and maintain these works for so many years. They are not just storing Uighur magazines in the Harvard libraries, but contributing to the preservation of a history, a language and a people who are struggling to live as who they are. Actions like these speak louder than words. Uighurs have a proverb saying “The bird that has not experienced the winter, never appreciates the spring.” Despite international condemnation, the winter for the Uighurs is not over yet. What is most worrisome and disgusting is that China seems ready to continue its oppressive policy against these innocent ethnic groups for years to come. It is relatively easy for the world community to say that it respects China’s desire to develop but cannot condone its crime against innocent ethnic groups. Yet real support, however small, for vulnerable people is always greater than lofty but empty words. Kaiser Mejit is a graduate of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. link: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/11/10/mejit-library-lost-land/

Op-ed: Northeastern’s first Uyghur student denounces China’s mistreatment of his people

I moved to Boston from Urumqi, the so-called capital of the Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, in late 1997. I arrived in the United States as the first Uyghur student at Northeastern University. As the only Uyghur in Boston at the time, I expressed my feelings of loneliness in The Northeastern News. My piece caught the attention of international business professor Sheila M. Puffer, and she invited me to speak about my experiences to one of her classes. Upon entering the classroom, I noticed she had distributed my piece to her students. I began by asking the students if they could identify the “four M’s.” Through my university education and personal experience I learned about these “four M’s,” which are the four main concepts that apply to the Chinese economy: huge manpower, cheap materials, China’s growing market and lastly, money, or profit the investors would get in return. Back then, I was optimistic China was moving in the right direction with its reform and Open Door Policy. Having studied Chinese economics and lived in Shanghai for one year in the mid-1990s, I witnessed the fast-changing city as well as the aspirations of young students in Shanghai. I was convinced China’s economic growth would be extraordinary in the years to come. However, I could not have foreseen China’s unprecedented and wholesale mistreatment of my people, the Uyghurs, a Central Asian people with a long history and rich culture. I still vividly remember telling Professor Puffer’s class of young students about potential opportunities in China. It is emotionally and rationally tragic for me to talk to Husky alumni about the existential threat my people are facing under Chinese government after 22 years. The injustices Uyghurs are facing and China’s deceptive depiction of its treatment of Uyghurs on the world stage remind me of the story behind the Chinese word 矛盾, or máodùn, which translates to “contradiction.” I learned this word during my first year of college at Xinjiang University in Urumqi. The word derives from an ancient Chinese myth, “His Spear Against His Shield,” in which a craftsman contradicts himself. Like the craftsman, I never imagined that contemporary China would be so contradictory in its actions when it comes to the Uyghurs. China set up Confucius Institutes globally to teach Chinese language and culture, spreading the great philosopher’s teachings, yet the country contradicts those same principles. Confucius says: “Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.” China did not forget injuries, but instead forgot kindness. China’s rule over the Uyghurs since 1950 has never been without oppression, although there was a brief period of partial respect for the Autonomous Region in the early 1980s. Uyghurs are discontent with Chinese leadership for not honoring its promise of granting autonomy to the Uyghurs. Naturally, some disgruntled Uyghurs advocated for independence after seeing China’s harsh crackdown against their legitimate grievances. The U.S.-led war on terror contributed to the rise of Islamophobia in the West following 9/11, thus providing China an opportunity to further oppress the Uyghur people. Since April 2017, China has put millions of innocent Uyghur and Kazak people into concentration camps. Chinese leaders’ called for an attack on the Uyghur population with “absolutely no mercy” as revealed in leaked documents, which brought me to the realization that China completely disregarded Confucius’ teachings of mercy and kindness. Instead of diffusing the tense ethnic relationship with dialogue and reconciliation, state propaganda machines began portraying Uyghurs as the enemy of the state. The Chinese public suddenly started to hate the already oppressed Uyghurs and began supporting the Chinese officials advocating for this oppression. As a result, Uyghurs have become one of the biggest victims of state-sponsored extremism and terrorism in the 21st century. China touts its wisdom on the global stage by saying, “A single flower does not make spring. Hundreds of flowers in full blossom bring spring to the garden.” Yet it is those same leaders who viciously work to wither the cultures, languages and customs of Uyghur and Kazakh people. The arrests of Uyghur scholars like Rahile Dawut and Yalqun Rozi and the abandoning of Uyghur and Kazakh languages at schools are proof — China only allows one flower to blossom. China lectures others on building a community with a shared future for mankind through international cooperation, but internally disregards the basis of that principle. How can China convince the world when it is jailing its own citizens based on their race and faith with total violation of international laws? China’s actions against innocent ethnic groups are a crime, and they do not bode well for the country’s future. History proved that when a dominant ethnic group tries to erase a vulnerable one, it results in the decline of the country’s power. Not only did China cause colossal and historic damage to the Uyghur people, but also tarnished its image globally. People must recognize China’s torture of the Uyghurs and start questioning the authenticity of their promotion of a shared future for mankind. Just like wise ancient Chinese people knew the “contradiction” of that craftsman, wise people of today’s world must acknowledge the contradiction in contemporary China. As Northeastern’s first Uyghur student, I am grateful for the opportunities this great university has afforded to me. I can attest to these injustices, and I implore my fellow Huskies to stand up for Uyghur and Kazakh people by urging the Chinese government to dismantle concentration camps. Northeastern students should raise awareness about these injustices to end the forced labor, free the millions of innocent ethnic people and let them live in peace with human dignity. https://huntnewsnu.com/62647/uncategorized/op-ed-northeasterns-first-uyghur-student-urges-us-to-denounce-chinas-mistreatment-of-his-people/

The Sparkling of the Harvard Spirit

One year ago from this month, Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow visited China and gave a speech at Peking University that earned him my respect and made me proud of Harvard. His speech shone through with the Harvard spirit — the pursuit of truth through valuing the power of knowledge, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between countries, peoples, and cultures, and respecting diversity to elevate the human spirit and the condition of all mankind. In particular, Bacow’s reading of Abdurehim Ötkür’s poem about the search for truth moved me to tears. I felt proud that my beloved Uighur poet and Harvard University’s President shared the same spirit of intellectual exploration. Ötkür was a beloved and iconic Uighur writer and poet. I studied his poems and prose in our Uighur language textbooks when I was a high school student. In the 1990s, I attended the same university in Urumqi that he had attended in the 1940s. For people who don’t know about the Uighurs, Bacow’s gesture may seem like nothing. But it is a great moral support for us, a people with a unique culture and colorful history whose ancestors established empires and contributed significantly to the building and development of the Silk Road but are now marginalized in today’s China. Millions of Uighurs, who are Chinese citizens, are suffering through unimaginable, incomprehensible cruelty and heartbreaking, unforgettable tragedy. They have been separated from their family members and taken to so-called “re-education” centers. They are under constant Chinese state surveillance. And in all aspects of life on a daily basis, they are discriminated against. As an American citizen of Uighur origin living freely in this country, I was saddened by the fate of millions of my fellow people in their own country. I could not fathom the arrests or disappearances of many lovely people like Professor Rahile Dawut, literary critic Yalqun Rozi, and others whom I know very well. These are the scholars who have contributed to the progress of Uighur society and played the role of a bridge between different cultures and peoples, between the Uighurs and the Chinese government. China’s attack on them and so many others certainly is a great tangible loss for Uighur people. It is also an intangible loss for China and Chinese people. While watching this tragedy from afar, unable to stop China’s cruelty, Uighurs abroad felt helpless and hopeless. But we believed in humanity, and expected some kind of just and unified response from all countries and international organizations that would change China’s behavior. After all, contemporary China has thrived after it opened its door to the world. Unfortunately, many countries and major international organizations stayed silent on the plight of Uighurs. One hypothesis is that their eyes were on Aladdin’s almighty lamp that says “made in China.” But in such a time when those with power and fame chose to stay silent or indifferent, President Bacow stood up for justice and subtly expressed his concern for the fate of millions of Uighurs through reading that poem by Ötkür. More concretely, Harvard also recently hired a full-time preceptor to teach the Uighur language. Without a doubt, Harvard under the leadership of President Bacow splashed water on a withering flower, and I trust that it will blossom one day. President Bacow did not just stand up for Uighurs. Most importantly he stood up for the truth — the truth that everyone strives to live the life they would like to live as free people with many choices. But doing so has never been easy. Too often, unfortunately, when one segment of mankind gets their liberty, another segment of mankind falls into misery. When mankind makes progress in one field, it regresses in another field. This causes an unequal distribution of choices for mankind that often makes freedom too skewed. I am proud that Harvard’s truth-seeking community never ceases to fight for the progress and betterment of all mankind. And the Harvard community never hesitates to express its concern against injustices and oppression, wherever they are. I saw this in both President Bacow’s speech and deeds. I have also seen this in a recent Crimson op-ed that brought attention to the Uighur people’s misery. Young people like the op-ed’s author, Guillermo S. Hava, are an embodiment of this spirit and give me hope that our youth will do more good for the future of mankind to create a peaceful, prosperous, free, and just world shared by everyone. Whenever there is an honest exploration for the truth, done with friendly collaboration and honest dialogue, the Harvard spirit sparkles. And with this same spirit, I urge the Harvard community to remind the Chinese government that respecting Uighurs’ human rights, treating them benignly, and letting them live the way they want to live is the best cure to this conflict. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/3/5/mejit-sparkling-of-the-harvard-spirit/

Lesson learned from afar: Be yourself

Published in May'1998  in the Northeastern University Newspaper