Afghanistan Crisis: ? The people of Afghanistan are suffering. As headlines, news reports and media footage have shown, the Taliban have (once again) taken over the country. Before I explain what exactly this might mean for the future of Afghanistan, let's rewind back to 1996-the last time the Taliban were in control.
The Taliban rose to power and overtook Afghanistan in September of 1996, having been formed in 1994 only as a group of young Mujahadeen who wanted 'fight' oppression and be on the side of the oppressed. It was clear however, that they wanted to impose agendas that didn't align with the rights that the Afghans deserved. They imposed a very tyrannical version of the Islamic 'Sharia law' and it was noticeable that either people surrender and follow the rules the Taliban had set, or be killed. There was no other option. Women were made to stay at home, and not leave the house without a male relative. Girls who hit the age of puberty, were not allowed to attend school. Football stadiums were turned into public killing fields, where the Taliban would stone and execute people-with an audience. Non Islamic books were burned. Music CD's were destroyed. Most art, made to be vanished and non Islamic historic landmarks (such as the ancient Bamiyan Buddha statues in the Hindu Kush Mountains) were blown up. Genocides against certain ethnic minorities (mainly the Hazaras) became prominent and all around-people were suffering. There's much more to what the Taliban have done. To what they are doing now. There's many different stories going around. Many different point of views and everyone has something to say about this crisis. The evidence of the Taliban being completely disruptive and terrible for the country and it's people as their leader, is clear. I asked a few Afghans about their opinions (who's names will be censored for their personal safety) and they had some things to say on this matter... They stated that the current situation in Afghanistan is indeed a crisis. 'People haven't received their wages for a few months and a new wave of inflation has been inflicted on the country, many people have been dislocated with no shelter and have lost their homes without a penny to their name.'.... A lot of distorted news coverage is going around and the outside world knows not much about what is really going on in Afghanistan. However, when the Afghans themselves are crying for help, who are we to say that they are wrong and that the Taliban are a suitable Government for them? To the people that are suffering because of the Taliban. The truth is what we don't know, since we are watching from the outside.
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The Uyghur Muslims.
Let's talk about them. Let's talk about who they are and the horrible injustice that they're facing as I am typing up this blog post. The Uyghur Muslims are an ethnic minority that live in East Turkestan. Yes, you read correctly. East Turkestan. Not, so called 'Xinjang' as you would have heard, or read. Only East Turkestan. Or at least, before China invaded in the 20th century and claimed it their own land just like they did with Tibet-but this isn't a history lesson. The Uyghur Muslims have-and still are-facing a genocide. There's no other word for it. Disclaimer; most of what you're about to read is unpleasant so if you find it easier, scroll down to the bottom of this page to find out how you can support the Uyghur Muslims, with links to petitions, donations and Uyghur related business etc. Islamaphobia is a disease which some do (unfortunately) still suffer from (in 2020 as well) and the Chinese/Xinjang government, have a serious case of it. in 2018, the world came to the acknowledgement, that there is in fact a 21st century genocide going on. However, reports from the BBC and Satellite images have shown that it did in fact start from 2017, when Mosques were being demolished and men and women prohibited from practising their religion (Islam) in Xinjang. Satellite images captured pictures of strange building being built closed together in the region of Xinjang, between 2017-2018 and it turned out, those are concentration camps. Yes, like the ones from Nazi Germany. Except these are built to detain and supress Muslims. The Chinese government are expanding these camps every year and since 2017, at least 1 million Uyghurs have been thrown in these camps with at least 85 identified existing camps. But the number of these camps, are rapidly growing. Who's to say there aren't more being built? China however don't disagree that these camps are being made. They just have another term for it. 'Re-education camps' is what the Chinese government call them, apparently to teach the Uyghurs all about the Han Chinese life and China's original traditions, from music to food to clothes etc. Don't be fooled. These are not 'Re-education camps' as the Chinese government like to call them. These camps (to simply put it) are Ethnic cleansing camps. What is ethnic cleansing? Ethnic cleansing is the mass expulsion/killing of members of a religion or tribe in an area. The Chinese government are killing the Uyghur Muslims. People as young as 14 are sent to these camps, with no information or grounds as to why they have been imprisoned. Sometimes, it can be the simplest of reasons, such as practising Islam. Muslim Uyghur women are forced to marry and live, sleep and eat with Han Chinese men which has almost always led to multiple rapes and sexual violence. Families are being torn apart, some having to flee to other countries, whilst leaving their loved ones behind with no whereabouts of them. Forced birth control is one of the biggest crimes in the camps, which includes forced sterilisation and abortion of the Uyghur women. Inhumane Practises such as organ harvesting and poisoning are also present at these camps, with excess torture including stabbing, electrocution, beatings, burning and much, much more. The Uyghurs are forced to eat pork and drink alcohol, Uyghurs who hesitate are immediately sent to be punished. They are forced to renounce Islam and learn everything about the Han Chine lifestyle and learn mandarin Chinese. This is a horrible crisis which isn't only affecting the Uyghur Muslims inflicted with the genocide, but also the families and friends of these people. To not know whether your friends and families are alive, if they're eating, sleeping or living well, can truly have a detrimental effect. Many of you may not have families in East Turkestan. but let me ask you something-if your friends or family DID live in East Turkestan, would you be okay with the fact that everyone around you is staying silent? The fact that your friends and family are being stripped of their religion, culture and identity, yet none of the people around you care? Saying you care is one thing, but doing something about it is something entirely different. Actions do indeed, speak louder than words. If you have made it this far, I thank you for taking your time out to read this. Please, never stop fighting for justice and against injustice. If you are a Muslim reading this, thinking "Why not just leave it to God? God will fix everything." Yes. That is true. God can fix all the pain in the world. But our religion encourages to fight against injustices. It is a part of our Deen, if we sit and home and watch the world and it's people being destroyed, what good is that? How does that make us good Muslims? Especially in 2020, we have many recourses which we can use to spread awareness, but we still push it aside? we STILL let our brothers and sisters suffer? Whilst we cannot stop the pain, we can give out a helping hand. Like the Prophet Muhammad's (Peace be upon him) grandson once said; “Those who are silent when others are oppressed are guilty of oppression themselves” ― Imam Hussein Ibn Ali To help out you can demand action from companies and brands who are complicit in forced Uyghur Labour. These brands include Zara, Gap, Puma, Amazon, Apple, google and much more. It is impossible to stop using a lot of these brands, since we (me including) have already purchased from there, but we can boycott them and put pressure on them to stand in solidarity with the Uyghur Muslims! You can create your own petitions and start up local campaigns (socially distanced campaigns of course) or write to your local MP. If you do have Instagram, please take the time out and check out the link I've linked below! This account belongs to a student coalition advocating for the freedom and rights of Uyghurs and Turkic people in forced labour and internment camps. They have all the resources you need to support the Uyghur Muslims, and I've found them quite helpful. You can also DM them if you want to take part in the coalition-they do reply! Of course, you can also do your own research. But please do something. Like I have mentioned before, we are very very privileged people with access to food, a shelter and families and friends. If we were to lose any of those things, our lives would not be the same. So please think of the Uyghurs and their current situation, whilst also remembering them in your prayers. Stay safe!-Razia♡ https://www.instagram.com/freeuyghurnow/ I've always been interested in helping to fight against injustice. I think you could say it's 70% of who I am. If you were to take that essence away from me, there would honestly be not much left. I'm not saying this to 'brag' or to 'show off' that I care about what goes on in the world. That's a given. I see it as a responsibility. It's nothing to boast about. I'm a natural born empath, and seeing videos of innocent children dying and suffering in the worst ways possible, genuinely breaks my heart. On the other hand, seeing politicians, governments, presidents and highly privileged people, not using their platform and their voice in the correct ways, and abusing their titles in the name of 'Patriotism', really boils my blood in ways that I cannot explain. They're just casually sitting on their thrones, acting all high and mighty, trying to protect themselves and their rich 'friends'. I find that disgusting. I try to keep my patience as much as I can with this problem (Can't say the same for my patience with my siblings...) but I am at the point where I cannot sit still and not take any action. Palestine needs us. Yemen needs us. Syria needs us. The Uyghur Muslims need us. Black people need us. THE WORLD, needs us. Our voices, our donations, our signatures, each and every single one, contributes towards saving humanity. WE are the generation that NEEDS to throw away our 'pride'. I wasn't always so vocal about these issues though. Here's a 'little' backstory... In year 10, we were asked to prepare and give a speech, as part of our English speaking grade. Let me tell you something: I. Was. Struggling. I was soo confused. I had NO idea what to write about, what to talk about. And I was most dreading the fact of going up in front of the whole class and actually delivering the speech. It drove my anxiety all over the place. My teacher gave however, gave us some ideas, such as 'Why homework should be banned', or 'Why uniform should be banned', so I got to work. I started writing on why homework should be banned. But I was disgusted at what I wrote...It didn't feel right in some way. So when the class was over, I spoke to one of my best friends' about the speech and we were both exchanging our anxiousness towards delivering the speeches. She told me that she was doing a speech on Feminism, and when I told her about my topic, I think she laughed (I cant roast her because she might end up planning my murder again...) and honestly, I knew at that moment that I had to change my topic-Creds to my friend, without her I wouldn't have worked it out. I thought that we had to do speeches on what the teacher had told us to do, on the teacher's ideas, but she made me fully realise that there was in fact, no barrier. So I threw that speech down the drain. I started working on my new speech. Something that was a huge issue in our school. Something that fuelled my anger every. Single. Day. 'How boys treat girls.' And I wrote something till this day, I am proud of. When the day came to deliver our speeches, no one was willing to go up to give their speeches, so my teacher chose the students himself. One by one, they went up, giving their speeches as my teacher listened closely, watching like an eagle and making facial expressions every now and then. So you can imagine how nervous it would been for us all. There was still quite a few people left to deliver their speeches and everyone was terrified to go up, so a voice inside me told me I should go. I raised my hand and walked to the front of class whilst my anxiety was driving my crazy, however I kept cool on the outside. Now anyone who was in my English class, KNOWS exactly how shy I was. They knew. So it was kind of surprising, nevertheless I started my speech. Going on and on about how boys in our school treated the girls, like they were awards to be won. I specifically aimed my speech at these two boys in my class who were funny at times, but sometimes their humour became a little too much-fun fact, they were my inspiration for my speech :). I stared directly at them a few times, not understanding just exactly WHERE my new found confidence came from. I finished off my speech (whilst burning red like a tomato) and my friends came up to me saying how proud they were of me, and if anything, I was shocked at myself. That I was able to get over my fear. That I stepped out of my comfort zone. In the end, it did more good as some girls in my class had changed their speeches too, which I didn't realise was because of me. Because someone soo small, someone with little relevance, spoke. My love for writing and reading came from a very very young age, but this experience led me to writing more than I ever did before-it was my natural calling, and it struck me hard-things HAD to change... Rumi once said 'Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open? Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.'... A lot of you are terrified of speaking out because either you're afraid of stepping out of your comfort zone or because you don't want to say the wrong thing. I don't blame you at all for this, I was like that once. I'm now here to tell you that you are STRONGER than you may think. And that's coming from a girl who was so afraid of even making eye contact with people. You can do it. You can get over your anxiety. But it is crucial for you to step out of your comfort zone. Whenever I have a moment of insecurity and thoughts like 'your voice doesn't matter' or 'nothing is going to change if you talk', I look back to the time when I first addressed an issue in that had bugged me for some time, in front of a full class of people. And I carry on. Because I know, that no matter who attacks you, no matter what obstacle, I am stronger than my negative thoughts. There are people dying around the world. There are families being torn apart. The people need our help. Your negative thoughts cannot be your downfall. They cannot be the ultimate cause of you not speaking out for our family around the world. If you are willing to help but don't know how, then please do some research! We are so so privileged to be living in a time where have the internet-so make some use of it! and educate yourselves! We have access to everything we possibly want and need, and more. The warmth of our families and friends, we have free education, we own the most expensive of expensive items, we are blessed to having feasts every single day. But we turn a blind eye to the reality of the world, to the genocides, to the holocausts, to the famine-to the injustice. Why? For what? For who? Does it take up too much of your time? I'm sorry sis, but that's a pathetic excuse. We need to open our eyes, now, more than ever. We need to actively help out. YOU have the OBLIGATION to stand in solidarity. If you're already speaking on these issues-Great! But only talking about the issues, won't solve them. We need to think wider than that. Sign petitions, attend protests, give donations (even if it's only £1) and soo much more. If you are absolutely skint and there's no way you can even donate 1 penny-then not to worry, there's a way for you to help out for free! I recently came across an app/game called 'Freerice', which is a general knowledge quiz app. For every question you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated via the United Nation's World Food Programme. I highly recommend downloading this as you'll be supporting the poor, but also gaining some knowledge for yourself! I'm also going to make a list of useful petitions and charities, down below, and will continue to add to these lists, once I find some more reliable sources. If you know of any sites which I haven't mentioned, please let me know via the 'Contact' option at the top or in the comment section at the bottom of this page. I hope all this information wasn't too overwhelming or demanding, that's not my intention here. My intention is spread my knowledge. It would be great if I only helped myself. But I want YOU to earn some rewards and I want YOU to be one of the causes of why children will be spared. I need to do this, I have a purpose-and that's to help humanity, but also encourage you guys to do good. On top of this-please do take breaks to take care of your mental health, it's vital that you don't spend all your time helping out! Spend time with your families and friends and some alone time and live your life! But at the end of the day-remember your purpose here, and all that you can do to be an advocate for the helpless. Comment down what you think of my first post-and subscribe to my newsletter for post updates! Stay safe & healthy & true to yourselves!!!♡ HELPFUL SITES- YEMEN; https://www.change.org/p/yemencrisis-join-me-in-asking-minister-marcomendicino-to-exempt-yemenis-from-the-requirement-of-refugee-status https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-war-and-end-the-famine-in-yemen https://www.change.org/p/united-nations-find-common-ground-and-end-conflict-in-yemen https://donations.islamic-relief.com/ https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/yemen-crisis-appeal?c_code=170459&c_source=bing&c_name=Yemen%20Crisis%20Appeal&adg=yemen%20donate&c_creative=generic&c_medium=cpc&msclkid=adc7c6ab67ff1eaf2000985c1ba5d4ce&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Yemen%20Appeal%20%7C%20Donate%20%7C%20Generic%20%7C%20Exact&utm_term=yemen%20donations&utm_content=Yemen%20Donate https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/yemen/?msclkid=3ec784db348b19efa107da2c48d15c15&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=**-DM-Yemen-Donation-Exact&utm_term=yemen%20donations&utm_content=yemen%20donations PALESTINE; https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-oppose-annexation-of-palestinian-land http://palestinecampaign.eaction.online/stopannexation/ https://palestinecampaign.nationbuilder.com/regular_donation_new https://donations.islamic-relief.com/ https://muslimhands.org.uk/appeals/palestine-appeal?msclkid=3a91c647e35f11aa894a98b09e270468 https://pennyappeal.org/appeal/love-palestine SYRIA; https://donations.islamic-relief.com/ https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/syria-crisis-appeal https://muslimhands.org.uk/appeals/syria-crisis?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_8Wf7b6i6gIV0WDmCh276A-nEAAYAiAAEgLeCfD_BwE https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/syria/ https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/syria-crisis-appeal?c_code=170460&c_source=google&c_name=Syria%20Crisis%20Appeal&adg=syria%20donations&c_creative=generic&c_medium=cpc&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_8Wf7b6i6gIV0WDmCh276A-nEAAYASAAEgJtEfD_BwE BLM; https://www.change.org/p/department-of-homeland-security-declare-the-kkk-a-terrorist-organization-88797206-d068-47f6-8a56-e834600b9b88 https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/justiceforbre-breonna-taylor-officers-fired/?source=ab_searchads&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2_6fq7-i6gIVB7TtCh0REwzmEAAYAiAAEgLkkvD_BwE https://blacklivesmatter.com/petitions/ https://www.newspostleader.co.uk/read-this/you-can-sign-these-black-lives-matter-petitions-online-enact-change-home-2878585 UYGHUR MUSLIMS; https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/300146 https://www.change.org/p/stand-up-for-the-uyghur-muslims-in-china-antonioguterres-amnesty-un?recruited_by_id=a95bc940-b65d-11ea-a94d-218be0670b18 AFGHANISTAN; https://pennyappeal.org/appeal/feed-our-world/feed-Afghanistan/ https://www.actionaid.org.uk/about-us/where-we-work/afghanistan https://www.afghanaid.org.uk/donate/donate/20 Welcome to my blog!
I'm hoping that you'll read everything that I write on here-and that nothing really bores you!!! I'll be updating my blog whenever I can!!! I hope you enjoy reading :) |