The Washington Post, a highly credible global newspaper, on July 3 called Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan an “outspoken advocate of discrimination against Muslims” in an online article. It created a furore.
Subsequently, the newspaper corrected the paragraph calling Khan an “outspoken opponent of that discrimination”. However, Khan’s recent comments in regards to China’s treatment of minority Uyghur Muslims
have left many baffled whether the first version of the Washington Post was right or the second-- corrected one. Khan has extended his support to China’s version that says all is well its Muslim population.
Imran Khan has been quite vocal about the plight of Muslims in Palestine, Indian- Administered Kashmir. He had been turning a blind eye to the atrocities in Xinjiang. However, this time he has openly supported Chinese
action against Uyghur Muslims, probably, owing to Islamabad dependence on Beijing for financial and infrastructure needs. Pakistan has taken a USD 62 billion loan from China under the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) while
the project has so far failed to generate expected revenue or attract investment. Pakistan fears serious repercussions like risking sovereignty in case it fails to repay Chinese loans.
During an interview with "Axios on HBO" in June 2020, the Pakistani Prime Minister had tried to dodge questions related to harassment of Uyghur Muslims just across his country’s border. He chose to keep a mum on
issues like illegal detention of Uyghur Muslims, forced labour and sterilisation. He hinted at why he supported China. “When we were really struggling, our economy was struggling, China came to our rescue. So we
respect the way they are,” he said.
Last year, Imran Khan was very quick to slam the French President Emmanuel Macron over his comments about Islamic radicalism following the terror attack outside Charlie Hebdo magazine’s old office. Khan also
wrote to the leaders of Muslim nations asking them “to act collectively to counter the growing Islamophobia in non-Muslim states esp Western states causing increasing concern amongst Muslims the world over.”
Khan also sought a “solidarity among the Muslim Ummah” to support the Palestinians against Israel.6 In June 2020, Amnesty International called the Chinese activities in Xinjiang “draconian repression of Muslims” amounting to crimes against humanity.
“The Chinese authorities have created a dystopian hellscape on a staggering scale in Xinjiang. Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim minorities face crimes against humanity and other serious human rights violations that threaten to erase their religious and cultural identities,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International. Yet, Khan has been silent on the genocide of Uyghur Muslims, which led many
Muslims to slam him. “This is painful to watch. In which Imran Khan pretends the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang aren't being persecuted because his friends in the Chinese government told him they weren't,” said Mehdi Hasan, a famous international journalist.
Speaking on the occasion of marking the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) centennial celebration, Khan praised the Beijing government’s activities in Xinjiang, which are denounced by the Muslim world. Khan
announced Pakistan would accept anything Beijing does to the Uyghur Muslims. “Because we have a very strong relationship with China, and because we have a relationship based on trust, so we actually accept the
Chinese version. What they say about the programs in Xinjiang, we accept it,” he said. Moreover, Khan rapped western countries and media for focusing on human rights violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. He also called the one-party Communist Party-led governance system in China an alternative to Western democracy.
“The CPC has introduced an
“The CPC has introduced an alternative model and they have beaten all Western democracies in the ay they have highlighted merit in society," he said. Every Pakistani regime in the past has supported Chinese oppression in Xinjiang. Pakistan was the first country to deport Uyghur nationals, who are considered a threat by the Beijing government, to China. Pakistan has shut down several Uyghurs centres forcibly and hundreds of Uyghur Muslims were evicted. At least Uyghurs have been officially deported by the Pakistan government so far.
However, Imran Khan being in complete agreement with China in public space on Uyghurs raised suspicious about Pakistan being under tremendous pressure to pay back huge loans it acquired for China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a part of BRI. According to the non- profit Stimson Centre, Pakistan does not have funds, which may lead the country to lose its strategic asset in case of loan default, as happened to
Sri Lanka. “To avoid a similar fate, and perhaps keep the money flowing, Khan likely didn’t want to badmouth China in public,” said Sameer Lalwani,
director of the South Asia program at the Stimson Center.
