In the late 1940s, about 11,500 Chinese Uyghurs trekked across the mountains to Kashmir. The story is told in an article on the Uyghur diaspora by Radio Free Asia - here's the link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/pathtofreedom/
Most of these refugees, the article explains, moved on to Turkey, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and the United States ... but a few chose to stay in Kashmir.
Here's a brief extract:
Speaking from his home in New York, 86-year-old Ghulamiddin Pahta told RFA’s Uyghur Service that thousands of ethnic Uyghur and Kazakh minorities were forced to leave their homeland when soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) arrived in Xinjiang at the end of 1949, following the communist takeover of China.
Pahta said that the refugees braved severe conditions during the winter months as they trekked through the Himalaya Mountains on their way to India’s Kashmir region.
“I joined thousands of Uyghurs from [the Xinjiang capital] Urumqi, Kashgar, Hotan and other regions of the Uyghur homeland in crossing the Himalaya Mountains during the hardest winter months, enduring tremendous difficulties before arriving in Kashmir’s Srinagar city in India,” Pahta said.
“Kashmir was full of Uyghur and Kazakh refugees at the time. Large numbers of individuals traveling with us died in the Himalayas because of the cold,” he said. “When I arrived in Kashmir, I heard from my uncle Ebeydullah, who was president of the East Turkestan Refugee Association, that 11,500 refugees had traveled to the region and more than 400 had died on the way.”
The article includes the photo below - I wonder if it was take at Nedou's Hotel? - which carries the caption: 'A group of Uyghurs who succeeded in escaping at the time of the communist Chinese invasion and who took refuge in Kashmir, India. (Summer, 1950)' And underneath, taken at the same time is a photo of Uughur leaders meeting Sheikh Abdullah.
Most of these refugees, the article explains, moved on to Turkey, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and the United States ... but a few chose to stay in Kashmir.
Here's a brief extract:
Speaking from his home in New York, 86-year-old Ghulamiddin Pahta told RFA’s Uyghur Service that thousands of ethnic Uyghur and Kazakh minorities were forced to leave their homeland when soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) arrived in Xinjiang at the end of 1949, following the communist takeover of China.
Pahta said that the refugees braved severe conditions during the winter months as they trekked through the Himalaya Mountains on their way to India’s Kashmir region.
“I joined thousands of Uyghurs from [the Xinjiang capital] Urumqi, Kashgar, Hotan and other regions of the Uyghur homeland in crossing the Himalaya Mountains during the hardest winter months, enduring tremendous difficulties before arriving in Kashmir’s Srinagar city in India,” Pahta said.
“Kashmir was full of Uyghur and Kazakh refugees at the time. Large numbers of individuals traveling with us died in the Himalayas because of the cold,” he said. “When I arrived in Kashmir, I heard from my uncle Ebeydullah, who was president of the East Turkestan Refugee Association, that 11,500 refugees had traveled to the region and more than 400 had died on the way.”
The article includes the photo below - I wonder if it was take at Nedou's Hotel? - which carries the caption: 'A group of Uyghurs who succeeded in escaping at the time of the communist Chinese invasion and who took refuge in Kashmir, India. (Summer, 1950)' And underneath, taken at the same time is a photo of Uughur leaders meeting Sheikh Abdullah.
RSS Feed