On Saturday, Feb. 11, Cornell students rallied in Washington, D.C. with politicians, community leaders and students from other universities to reiterate the demands of the Uyghur Policy Act and Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act in response to the genocide in China.
Their stand reflects an important statement of solidarity amongst those who value human rights. The rally had support from The Hong Kong Student Association, Cornell Chinese in Ithaca, Free Tibet, Free Uyghur Now, Athenai Institute, Uyghur Human Rights Association, the Uyghur American Association and others.
I spoke with Suha Khan ’24, a Cornell Interfaith Council leader who drummed up support for the rally. Zoë MeiLing Johnson-Berman ’24, who fostered solidarity amongst organizations through social media networking, also joined us for the conversation. This interview is lightly edited for clarity.
The center of Asia remains virtually invisible to most of the students here at Cornell. The invisible Asia is the land of Tibet and Xinjiang, currently the site for an ongoing genocide, where there is no religious, cultural, intellectual or bodily freedom. Islam is institutionally targeted as “terrorism” and Tibetan Buddhist institutions are under strict Chinese Communist Party (CCP) control.
Recently, health workers in Xinjiang expressed that there were positive results as they treated COVID-19 patients with traditional Uyghur medicine, which dates as far back as 2,500 years. This is an irony, as the Chinese government imprisons Muslim Uyghurs for not conforming to Han culture. Uyghurs ought to have the right to practice their cultural traditions without fearing persecution and appropriation.
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