On Feb. 20, the McMaster Muslims for Peace and Justice and the McMaster Muslim Students Association sent a letter to Canadian ministers Chrystia Freeland and Ralph Goodalech, asking the government to investigate the Chinese government’s role in directing students to silence human rights activists on campus.
The letter follows an event organized by MMPJ and McMaster MSA on Feb. 11 where Rukiye Turdush, a Uighur Muslim activist, spoke about the Chinese internment of Uighur Muslims.
According to the Washington Post, a group of students created a WeChat group chat to oppose the event.
During the event, a student filmed Turdush and cursed at her. After the talk, the students say that they contacted the Chinese Embassy in Canada, which directed them to investigate whether university officials or Chinese students attended the event.
https://twitter.com/BethanyAllenEbr/status/1096159156061589504
A few days later, five Chinese student groups, including the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, released a statement condemning the event and stating they contacted the Chinese consulate in Toronto.
https://twitter.com/BethanyAllenEbr/status/1096090275666108416
The internment of Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region of China has been confirmed by multiple news outlets and the international community.
Approximately one million Uighur Muslims have been detained by the Chinese government, according to the British government.
The Chinese government has denied any wrongdoing, suggesting the camps are constructed for counter-terrorism purposes.
On Feb 16, the Chinese Embassy released a statement defending the actions of the Chinese students on the principle of free speech and dismissing any accusations of misconduct as ‘groundless accusations’ and ‘anti-China sentiment.’
Representatives from McMaster MSA and MMPJ say this is not a free speech issue.
“I do not think this was ever a conversation about freedom of speech. I think it always has been a conversation about human rights violation and speaking up against that,” said representatives from the McMaster MSA and MMPJ. “It’s blatantly obvious that the government is supporting these attempts to quell discussion about these human rights violations.”
The CSSA did not respond to multiple emails from The Silhouette about the situation.
McMaster MSA and MMPJ said the government acknowledged their letter but has yet to engage in any formal action on the matter.
“It’s important that we help people understand the university’s commitment to free speech and to the sharing of views and opinions, even those that might be controversial,” said Gord Arbeau, McMaster’s director of communications.
It is worth noting that these events come amid growing concerns about Chinese government involvement in Canadian universities to oppose any criticism against the Chinese Communist Party.
Following the protest at Turdush’s talk, an unnamed McMaster student created a Change.org petition in hopes of removing the CSSA from the MSU. As of March 2, the petition has amassed 461 signatures.
McMaster MSA and MMPJ said they did not start the petition.
“We definitely have mixed feelings about this petition simply because I think we somewhat recognize that these students these Chinese students are also victims of surveillance and they are victims of a form of control,” McMaster MSA and MMPJ representatives said. “It has never been a priority for either of our organizations to go and attack them, to take revenge.”
The MSU clubs department is aware of the situation but will not take any action without instruction from the government and/or university administration.
"As the clubs department is not a formal investigative body, its governing policies state clearly that any punitive action taken towards a club or individuals inside a club are done so after federal, provincial, municipal and/or University judicial bodies (as appropriate) render opinion and/or action. Therefore, the Department would certainly act on the advice of investigative professionals in this matter," said Josephine Liauw, the MSU clubs department administrator.
This article was clarified on March 12, 2019 to include a direct quotation from Liauw.
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By: Ajit Singh & Mike Van Arragon
We are certainly the odd ones out at clubs fest. Sitting in front of a big red banner, the words “Communist” and “Socialism” loom over our little table. A force field of political distrust seems to glow in this corner of the Student Center; and we’re wondering what does it mean to be a Communist at McMaster? Somebody approaches us with the question: “What are you guys? Like, Hitler?”
For the record, we aren’t anything “like Hitler”, however, we continue to hear the word “Communist” used as a pejorative on campus. One example was during the MSU Presidential election, making it clear that many still see Communists as mysterious boogeymen. Unfortunately, this is not surprising given the long history of anti-Communist hysteria, including the recent proposal for a monument to the “Victims of Communism,” envisioned in a particularly frightful moment of opportunism by former PM Stephen Harper. Due to the confused and, at times, hostile, buzz about our presence on campus, we think we owe our peers a proper introduction.
Communism is an ideology and movement that seeks to establish an egalitarian society without classes, “from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.” Generally, Communists see capitalist society as a global system with a key feature: separate classes with conflicting interests. This results in a class struggle between the few, the propertied or “bourgeoisie” (think: CEOs and bankers), and the many, the property-less workers or “proletariat” (think: teachers, nurses and retail workers). Since the proletariat control no property (technology, machinery, and materials) of their own with which to meet their basic needs, they are forced to sell their labour to the bourgeoisie in order to survive. Communism seeks to establish a society where there is a collective ownership of property in order to direct the economy towards common interests. Ensuring clean air, housing, healthcare, food, and education for all, before thinking about more frivolous things. We believe that such a society can only come about through a complete transformation.
While it is true that Communist societies have not been without their problems, they have continuously faced persistent aggression from Capitalist regimes (including the invasions of the Soviet Union, Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba). This must be accounted for when evaluating the development of Communist states. In spite of this aggression, Communism has raised the living conditions of millions of people worldwide. While facing an illegal blockade since 1960 and a militarily occupation since 1898, Cuba has achieved an average life expectancy which exceeds that of the United States.
Corporate profit margins in Canada were at a 27-year high, yet we are inundated by talk of recession, balanced budgets and the need for “belt-tightening.”
Influenced by Karl Marx, modern Communists believe that various oppressions, including gender-based violence, sexism, transphobia, racism, colonization, criminalization of the poor, ableism, religious bigotry and stigma surrounding mental health are actually relationships of exploitation, which emanate from and cannot be done away with in class-based, capitalist economies. Built upon colonialism, slavery, and other forms of labour and resource exploitation, capitalism creates inequality, accumulating wealth in the hands of a few. According to Oxfam, 62 individuals are as wealthy as half the world’s population). To ensure this constant accumulation, military and economic wars are waged to open up and control the “free market” and bring into submission any societies which resist. Factories and mines rise up on lands stolen from indigenous peoples. Their sovereignty and dignity seen as an intolerable extravagance. The surviving working class lives precariously, as Capitalist governments privatize and cut social services and environmental protections to accommodate big business. Last year the CBC reported that corporate profit margins in Canada were at a 27-year high, yet we are inundated by talk of recession, balanced budgets and the need for “belt-tightening.” Why is it always the working class that has to pay the price?
When Communists are told to be patient, to wait for the “right actors” to come into parliament and change things for the better, we point them towards the recurring crises of Capitalist democracies. For some reason, whether Liberal, Conservative, Democrat, or Republican, no Capitalist government is able to ensure that the environment is protected and that the entire population has adequate housing, food, education, and health care.
Confusing conversations aside, our experience at clubs fest demonstrated that people do care about the big issues. As the past month’s election campaign has shown, students care about politics and are seeking to create change. Fortunately, if history tells us anything it is that things are always changing, but it’s up to us to choose the right way forward.
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