Abdulqadir Jalaleddin | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Professor, poet |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Central Asian literature |
| Sub-discipline | Medieval Central Asian poetry |
| Institutions | Xinjiang Normal University |
Abdulqadir Jalaleddin is a Chinese-Uyghur scholar and poet. He specializes in medieval Central Asian poetry and was working as a literature professor at Xinjiang Normal University until his disappearance in 2018. He is believed to be imprisoned in a re-education camp in Xinjiang, despite him previously expressing support for the Chinese government.
Radio Free Asia's Uyghur-language service contacted police stations in Ürümqi, the city Abdulqadir worked in, but responding officials claimed they had no knowledge of his detainment. An anonymous respondent from Abdulqadir's department claimed that he had not been seen since late 2018, before that academic year's winter vacation, and that there were rumours among staff and students that he had been detained for "re-education". [1] Scholars at Risk and the World Uyghur Congress has expressed concern about his wellbeing and called for his release. [2] [3] He was one of several Uyghur intellectuals who disappeared that year. [4] [5] [6] [7]
In the same year as his disappearance, Abdulqadir wrote an open letter in support of the Chinese government as part of a wider campaign by the latter to gather support from prominent Uyghurs. Rachel Harris of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, a colleague of Abdulqadir who had known him for over a decade, said of him: "He was a very moderate man who always tried to give a balanced view, so much so that a lot of Uyghur nationalists accused him of selling out to the [Chinese] regime." [8]