The worst-hit village was Masanchi, which is made up of mostly Muslim Dungan families. Many shops and buildings in Masanchi could be seen torched or broken into, as local firefighters struggled to control the flames that engulfed much of the village.
The worst-hit village was Masanchi, which is made up of mostly Muslim Dungan families. Many shops and buildings in Masanchi could be seen torched or broken into, as local firefighters struggled to control the flames that engulfed much of the village.
At least 10 people have been killed, with 40 more injured, after heavy clashes between ethnic Kazakhs and the Dungans, a Muslim group living in Central Asia of Chinese origin. While the cause of the rioting is yet unknown, the Muslim ethnic group of Dungans were targeted in some of the worst ethnic clashes of the region. Scores of Dungans were forced to flee their homes into neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
The clashes erupted in the Zhambyl region, about 130 kilometers west of the country’s commercial capital of Almaty, with a state of emergency declared on February 8th amidst fears that the violence would continue. The worst-hit village was Masanchi, which is made up of mostly Muslim Dungan families. Many shops and buildings in Masanchi could be seen torched or broken into, as local firefighters struggled to control the flames that engulfed much of the village. It was reported at a press conference in the country’s capital of Nur-Sultan that at least 30 homes, 15 shops, and 20 cars had been heavily damaged in Masanchi and the surrounding villages during the clashes.
Radio Free Europe reportedly spoke to several Kazakh men from the region, who claimed that long-standing grievances between the ethnic Kazakhs and the Dungans causes this most recent rioting. The Dungans have supposedly enjoyed commercial success in the region, and with reports of “fake news” around the Dungan groups, they were reportedly targeted by the ethnic Kazakhs.
Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s largest country, is home to more than 100 different ethnicities. The former Soviet republic has long been at the center of a historical melding of different religions, cultures, and ethnic groups. The Dungans, who are originally said to be of Hui Chinese origin, are thought to have been taken as slaves from the ancient city of Kashgar to Central Asia a few hundred years ago. Now settled across the countries of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the population of the Dungans remains at around 110,000.
As of now, as the violence is reportedly calming down, Kazakh law enforcement have deployed riot police to the affected areas, with long lines of police holding riot shields and truncheons along the road connecting the villages. Groups of Dungan families have reportedly been fleeing into neighboring Kyrgyzstan, with Dungans on the Kyrgyz side handing out food and medical supplies to the fleeing families. Around 20 people are now seeking medical treatment in Kyrgyzstan after the recent clashes.
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev stated in an unscheduled television appearance that he had ordered security agents to prosecute those spreading the hate speech against the Dungans, and that “the most important thing now is to calm the population down”.
Tajikistan sees worrying rise in possible Islamophobic arrests of Muslim clerics
With the recent mass arrests of Islamic clerics and Arabic teachers in neighboring Tajikistan, these clashes in Kazakhstan may be a worrying trend in the region of Islamophobic attacks – fuelled and possibly influenced by China’s horrific genocide of the Uyghur and ethnic Muslim populations of northwestern China, Central Asia may be falling into the dark influence of China’s campaign against the Muslims of the region. It remains a duty on the part of citizens around the world as well as world leaders to fully hold China accountable for its genocidal campaign and crimes against humanity, before its influence reaches wider circles.
