Muhammadiyah Responds to Recent WSJ Report and Uighur Issue

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Muhammadiyah central board (PP) openly protested against the news report issued by the Wall Street Journal that accuses a number of Indonesian Islamic organizations of being persuaded by the Chinese government to suppress criticisms on the Uighur persecution taking place in Xinjiang. 

Muhammadiyah argues that the report has no basis and is deliberate defamation on the PP Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) executive board, and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). 

PP Muhammadiyah’s Chairman, Haedar Nashir asserts that the organization will not stay silent and has officially recommended the Indonesian government upon the steps that would need to be taken. 

In terms of the organization’s stand on the allegations, Haedar says that Muhammadiyah sees the issue regarding Uighur Muslims like any other “universal humanitarian issue as they have done with Rohingya in Myanmar, Palestine, and India.”

In objecting to Wall Street Journal’s article, Muhammadiyah urges the WSJ editorial to rectify their news article and apologize to Muhammadiyah members or face legal consequences. They also push the Chinese government to be more transparent in providing information and access for international society in regards to policies that oversee the Xinjiang’s Muslim ethnic Uighur minorities. 

Muhammadiyah also calls for China to stop any form of human rights violations against the Uighur community and let the community freely practice their religion and preserve their identities. 

TEMPO.CO