A panel discussion on Uyghur Muslim persecution featuring Critical Theory and Social Justice, the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, Diplomacy and World Affairs, and the Young Initiative
On Thursday, Diplomacy and World Affairs professors Lan Chu and Anthony Tirado Chase (Chair for the Young Initiative) joined scholars from 瓜子TV鈥檚 Critical Theory and Social Justice department, the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council to discuss the Uyghur Muslim Persecution in Xinjiang, China. Professor Timothy Grose (professor at Rose-Hulman) opened the panel discussion by offering a brief background on the alleged re-education camps and evidence of their cultural cleansing (such as destruction of mosques, criminalization of religious practices, etc). Grose highlighted that both misinformation and disinformation complicate both the dissemination of news surrounding the re-education camps and, consequently, the international community鈥檚 response to Uyghur oppression. Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council also emphasized that aggressive state responses to Islam are motivated by a conflation between Islamic extremism and the rest of Islam. He explained that acts of equal violence and the majority of Islam. al-Marayati pointed out that similar acts of extremism within Christianity or Judaism are not equally scrutinized and, more importantly, are not framed to suggest that the entirety of the religion is violent. He closes highlighting how the normalization of demonizing Muslims can lead to war or violent genocide.