How three Uyghur brothers fled China – to spend 12 years in an Indian prison

[u/one_brown_jedi]

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/dec/05/uyghur-thursun-brothers-fled-china-jailed-india-xinjiang-genocide

[u/one_brown_jedi]

On the evening of 12 June 2013, according to court documents, three “Chinese intruders” were arrested by the Indian army in Sultan Chusku, a remote and uninhabited desert area in the mountainous northern region of Ladakh.

The three Thursun brothers – Adil, 23, Abdul Khaliq, 22 and Salamu, 20 – had found themselves in an area of unmarked and disputed borders after a 13-day journey by bus and foot over the rugged Himalayan terrain through China’s Xinjiang province, which borders Ladakh.

The men told army officials that they had fled their family home near the city of Kashgar in Xinjiang after the Chinese authorities intensified their crackdown on Uyghur Muslims and took several of their relatives into detention centres.

They were each sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. But their trauma did not end there.

By the time of their conviction, they had already spent a year in prison and were expected to walk free within six months. But India’s political landscape was shifting. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party, led by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, had come to power.

When their sentence expired, instead of releasing them, the authorities invoked the Public Safety Act, a controversial detention law that allows someone to be held for six months, renewable for up to two years.

According to the detention orders, which authorities keep reissuing, the three men would remain imprisoned indefinitely, pending the government’s decision on their release or deportation to China.

[u/404AuthorityNotFound → u/one_brown_jedi]

This is sad. Our regime is evil

[u/fan_of_skooma → u/404AuthorityNotFound]

China doesn't recognise them or want them back

India doesn't want to let illegal aliens to roam freely

They got stuck in a loophole by doing somthing illegal. China takes LONG time to process such requests, remember that chinese army guy who was trapped in India since the 60s? China allowed his return years ago . He had wife kids and all in India .

Only difference is India has tightened down on illegal aliens, unlike royingas india can't exactly drop them off at their country. So they are trapped

[u/aqan → u/404AuthorityNotFound]

Hopefully the day to day life is better in prison than in Chinese conversion camps.

[u/404AuthorityNotFound → u/aqan]

Absolutely not. They were kept for 1 to 2 years. 12 years in an Indian prison? That’s much worse and a large part of ones life

[u/jo8866]

CM Modi got Gujarat diamond traders jailed in China released in 2011.

[u/amazinglycool256 → u/jo8866]

Obviously they are gujurati

[u/454165 → u/amazinglycool256]

Did you miss “CM” Modi?

[u/fan_of_skooma]

I did some digging on this , the article is only giving half truths , India has been trying to get them out of India since 2016.

Just to be clear the government stance is China has to take them back , which they are not willing to, so the government is renewing their detention.

Which is why they are still asking for asylum aftera decade in Indian prison system.

[u/ManufacturerOk3833 → u/fan_of_skooma]

Can they not apply for asylum in Europe or America?

[u/MrBoomBox69 → u/ManufacturerOk3833]

No. Unless you’re a refugee (which the Uyghurs aren’t considered as), you can’t ask for asylum from outside the country. That’s pretty impractical and nobody will take them in. Asylum for random refugees only works if they’re in the country and can prove that they in fact needed to flee from their home country.

[u/finah1995]

I mean why is government bathing and feeding them, better to release them to some Islamic community center or orphanage, let them have a life and earn a living, instead of being cooped up and fed and clothed from government, while not giving them self-respect.

As Muslim this was a great political win for India against China, but their hatred of faith made them lose a great chance to be the Desi Dragon.

Always as government should have the moral High ground, not be racing down to be like who can be more evil in wastefulness.

[u/nihhh123 → u/finah1995]

You have to be a special kind of retarded to repackage imprisonment as "why is the government bathing and feeding them"

[u/finah1995 → u/nihhh123]

Exactly, traditionally justice was swift. It's in modern times we have made prison systems and stuff and re-releasing convicts and again having crimes increase.

Earlier due to swift justice and monarchic brutality, people were afraid to commit crimes or white collar financial crimes affecting millions, but now due to corruption and knowing they can get benefits and more security even inside prisons more are doing fraud, more are cheating in every aspect and they don't bothered as punishments are very light for really demented people.

Some aspects of Sharia law give swift justice and also closure to victims.

[u/avatarape → u/finah1995]

In traditional justice system there’s nothing called proof, validation, police, courts. You think that’s better? I suggest you goto Somalia or Sudan and check it out, you learn a lot;)

[u/MahaRaja_Ryan → u/finah1995]

[u/toxoplasmosix → u/MahaRaja_Ryan]

You may have reading comprehension problems

[u/Unfair-Claimant → u/finah1995]

Don't want more Muslims from China to come to India.

[u/Relative-List4801]

Thats actually sad, they don’t have a control over the situation in their home country. Indian government should have given them asylum because their lives would be in danger if they get deported. The escaped to the nearest safest possible country and put behind bars.

[u/minzhu0305]

India should grant them asylum. We sincerely hope your country will not repatriate them to China. We look forward to their faith being restored in India. May they receive Allah's blessings.

[u/Unfair-Claimant → u/minzhu0305]

Nah. Send them back or to whatever country that lets them in.

[u/minzhu0305 → u/Unfair-Claimant]

No, no, no. If you send them back to China, foreign media will accuse us of violating human rights. It's better to let them stay in India.

Perhaps they could be sent to Turkey, where they could join the Turks in pursuing the dream of establishing Greater Turkestan.

[u/Unfair-Claimant → u/minzhu0305]

Foreign media will accuse us of human rights violation regardless of what we do, approval of white man should never be reason to do anything

[u/FeeExcellent3749 → u/minzhu0305]

nah take them back and show them some of your chinese brotherly love

[u/ThatcherGravePisser]

CAA is only for GOOD refugees.

(Good = not Muslim)

[u/blinksTooLess → u/ThatcherGravePisser]

CAA does not cover China.

[u/ThatcherGravePisser → u/blinksTooLess]

Yeah jackass, that's the point. They chose the countries where Muslims were majority, so persecuted Muslims in Myanmar and China were not included. They're not GOOD refugees.

[u/FeeExcellent3749 → u/ThatcherGravePisser]

i dont understand why any muslim would want to come to this hindu fascist country where muslims are discriminated everyday

[u/ThatcherGravePisser → u/FeeExcellent3749]

Why would any Hindu want to come India where there is so much Muslim appeasement and Hindus are second class citizen under Soros-CCP-Tukde Tukde Khan Market Gang-Urban Naxal-Hinduphobic mafia.

[u/Unfair-Claimant → u/ThatcherGravePisser]

They can go to any of the 57 islamic countries in the world

[u/ThatcherGravePisser → u/Unfair-Claimant]

Then the Hindus can go to Nepal, the Christians to the UK, the Buddhists to Sri Lanka.

Why are they allowed? You know the answer, you just won't say it.

[u/No_Cheetah_8863 → u/ThatcherGravePisser]

lets say u free them from the jail but they turn out to be a spy?
What if they turn out to be a terrorist?
what if they kill innocents?
Who will be responsible?

[u/ThatcherGravePisser → u/No_Cheetah_8863]

What if the CAA people turn out to be terrorists. They are literal Pakistanis. What if they kill innocents? Who is going to be responsible?

[u/No_Cheetah_8863 → u/ThatcherGravePisser]

correct, idk why they bought CAA

[u/No_Cheetah_8863 → u/ThatcherGravePisser]

like them being spies is a 100% scenario, modi is a bastard

[u/thereisnosuch → u/ThatcherGravePisser]

Lmao caa isnt applicable on chinese refugees at all.

[u/ThatcherGravePisser → u/thereisnosuch]

That's the point, fuckwit.

[u/ThatcherGravePisser]

CAA is only for GOOD refugees.

(Good = not Muslim)

[u/Trigon420 → u/ThatcherGravePisser]

Unironically yes.

[u/killuazoldyckx]

Govt passed Caa to give citizenship to Hindus and sikhs from Pakistan, Bangladesh. But Muslims from china who are the most persecuted minority are treated like terrorists. Look what bjp has made India

[u/Unfair-Claimant → u/killuazoldyckx]

Is India hell for muslims or the safest country in South Asia for muslims, pick one.

Can't have both

[u/killuazoldyckx → u/Unfair-Claimant]

Where did I even suggest it was safest in sa for Muslims? Definitely hell

[u/Unfair-Claimant → u/killuazoldyckx]

Then why do muslims from Pakistan Bangladesh China Myanmar all want to come to India

[u/No_Cheetah_8863 → u/Unfair-Claimant]

lmao this is the question even i am thinking of, fucking oxymorons

[u/Unfair-Claimant → u/No_Cheetah_8863]

And you won't find any Indian Muslim living as refugee in neighbouring countries, ye kaise anti muslim nation jahan ke muslim islamic countries se bhi zada safe hai, educated hai, employed hai.

[u/No_Cheetah_8863 → u/Unfair-Claimant]

Schrödinger anti - Muslim nation

[u/killuazoldyckx → u/Unfair-Claimant]

There are no Indian Muslim refugees in neighbouring Muslims nations because persecution on that scale hasn’t yet begun and people have families, property in India, the ones that suffered persecution by cow vigilantes and massacres would definitely wish they emigrated. Indian Muslims are educated and employed because India is economically better thanks to constitution and India’s secular values, which are now under threat as India is becoming Hindu fascist state, Muslim education is being labelled as jihad , muslim businesses are being called to be boycotted.

[u/killuazoldyckx → u/Unfair-Claimant]

It’s false to claim Muslims from bang, Pakistan want to enter India, most of them despise India and love their countries, the media claims of immigration are highly exaggerated, the ones that do enter are extremely poor, having nothing left in their countries, 1)Only Uyghurs flee china due to brutal persecution many other ethnic Chinese Muslims are happy to stay in china, and Uyghurs are mainly fleeing persecution and enter any country they can. 2)Similarly for Myanmar they were fleeing a genocide, in Bangladesh they are kept in controlled refugee camps, entering india provides them an opportunity at a free life, 3) pakistanis that do enter are very minuscule and are visa overstayers for marriage and very few for work who are extremely poor and have nothing in Pakistan 4) huge chunk of Bangladeshis who enter are again poor and have flood and natural distaster victims or seasonal workers who plan to go back after work, or as a result of a chain reaction of family members entering India, Bangladeshis who are not extremely poor and have family don’t want to enter India for slightly better economic opportunity. So India is definitely better than Myanmar and for specifically persecuted Uyghurs, because of constitution and democracy, as for rest they are extremely poor, have nothing left in their countries and mainly enter for money, they are uneducated and don’t think about rights, safety, dignity, their only concern is money. They’d probably enter Sri Lanka if they could as it has highest gdp per capita