MUHAMMADIYAH.ID, JAKARTA- On Wednesday (11/12), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published Jon Emont's article which states that a number of Islamic organizations in Indonesia, including Muhammadiyah, were persuaded by the Chinese government to blunt their criticism about humanitarian issues in Xinjiang.
Responding to the news, in a press conference conducted on Monday (16/12) at Muhammadiyah Office of Jakarta, General Chairman of the Central Board of Muhammadiyah Haedar Nashir emphasized that the information is unjustified.
As a movement bringing Islamic visions in areas of humanity and morals, Haedar asserted that Muhammadiyah will always stand up for the universal humanity.
“We advocate humanity without distinguishing religion, race, ethnicity, and nations. In this context, we see the humanitarian issues from two perspectives, namely bilateral relations among countries and structural approaches. We would like to see all of them proportionally,” explained Haedar.
“We have provided some recommendations to the government of Indonesia on issues of Uighurs as we concern with humanitarian issues in Rohingya, Myanmar, and Palestine,” he added.
As a non-governmental organization, Muhammadiyah cannot take action by itself so that we attempt to actively play roles to initiate and give suggestions to the government of Indonesia through legal diplomacy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Indeed, according to Haedar, Muhammadiyah was the first party urging the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China Xiao Qian to provide access to directly recognize condition of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.
Muhammadiyah’s Response Does Not Change
Furthermore, General Secretary of Muhammadiyah Abdul Mu’ti asserted that Muhammadiyah will never shift its attitude towards the humanitarian issues.
“Muhammadiyah does not receive any financial support from China. Muhammadiyah will always declare views in accordance with principles of amar ma’ruf nahi munkar (commanding the good, forbidding the evil), be firm and go against human rights violations,” he stressed.
“Thus, our response to the humanitarian issues in both Uighurs and Indonesia is the same. Human rights are regarding not only religion but also humanity. This press conference is a commitment of Muhammadiyah to protect and stand up for humans and humanity,” ended Mu’ti.