The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has once again denied having any knowledge about the ongoing Uighur genocide in China. In an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, Khan went on to call China Pakistan’s “best friend” when prodded on the matter.
When asked about China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims, primer minister of Pakistan says, “frankly, we’ve been facing so many of our internal problems that I don’t know much about this problem.” pic.twitter.com/wLkfYZkq1Z
— Naila Inayat नायला इनायत (@nailainayat) September 14, 2019
When asked whether he had the opportunity to discuss the matter with the Chinese administration, Khan admitted that he hadn’t and claimed that he didn’t have much knowledge about the persecution of Uighur Muslims in China.
“And frankly, we have been facing so many of our internal problems right now, that I don’t really know much about this problem. And since we have been in power for one year, domestically, apart from the economy, and now with Kashmir, we have been inundated with problems. But I will say one thing for China, for us China has been the best friend,” he told the news organization.
Imran Khan added, “At the moment, my responsibility is the people of Pakistan, and I have 220 million Pakistanis, and they are my responsibility. And my number one effort is to help my own countrymen.”
In March as well, Khan had claimed that he knew nothing about the matter. His answer even then was exactly the same. It appears that either a remarkable lack of curiosity is Khan’s defining characteristic as an individual or Pakistan, at the moment, is extremely scared of nudging China the wrong way.
It is also intriguing that while Khan considers Kashmir to be an issue that should concern the Muslim Ummah, he himself doesn’t consider Uighurs to be part of the Ummah even though they are Muslims themselves and are being persecuted due to their religious identity.
It is not exactly a secret that Pakistan is slowly but surely becoming a vassal state of China. There have also been reports that Pakistani women are being married by the Chinese and some of them are being trafficked and forced into prostitution. As a consequence of Pakistan’s isolation in the international arena, they are sliding further into the arms of the Chinese.
China, which seeks to establish itself as a global hegemony, has colonial ambitions and they are known to not tolerate actions that threaten their authority. Thus, it’s not really a surprise that Imran Khan is careful not to raise his voice on the Uighur Genocide. Because, at this present moment, they are at China’s mercy and the Chinese could do with them what they very well please.
