I Am A Uyghur Policeman

I am a Uyghur. I grew up on the outskirts of Kashgar in a small and simple village. Because of the lack of job opportunities after high school, I joined the Urumqi police force.

For the most part, my job is simple. I respond to traffic accidents and take reports of petty crime. Sometimes, my job is tough. I'm also on the riot squad. By volunteering for the squad, I earn a few extra hundred RMB a month, which helps as I have to take care of my widower father, who is disabled. This week, I've been assigned to use a police van with a loudspeaker to encourage Uyghur protesters to disperse in our native tongue. I've also had to go to Uyghur enclaves and round up suspected instigators of the riots. They are mostly young men. Some are students. Others are unemployed.

I get a lot of grief about my job from my family, friends, and Uyghurs that don't even know me. They think that I am a sell-out and that I am a tool of the Han Chinese and their government. A student I arrested told me that I was no better than a black policeman during South Africa's apartheid period.

I get grief from the Han as well. I know I will never get a promotion, even to sergeant. My fellow Han officers, though superficially polite to me, all think that deep down inside, my allegiance is to the Uyghurs. At protests, I feel alone.

So why do I do it? It is hard for an undereducated Uyghur man to find a decent, stable job in Xinjiang. I have a family to support. I enjoy serving the community, whether it's investigating car accidents or helping crime victims obtain justice. Also, deep down inside, and I don't tell many people this, I believe that we need social order, especially when it comes to Han-Uyghur relations. The lives of Uyghurs could be worse economically. Just look at my brothers in Central Asia and Russia. Relatively speaking, I justify to myself, life in Xinjiang is not that bad for a Uyghur. I think. Maybe.

That is why I am a Uyghur policeman.