Letter to Adnan’s Mother

Saadat Jahangir

We have not met personally. However, knowing Adnan was sufficient to know his family. Since I consider you a close person to myself, I will not use pompous words. The only thing I must say is that you should be proud of having son like Adnan.

I perfectly understand what it means for a mother to have her son arrested without any reasons. Our families have same thoughts, points of views and thinking that Adnan has. Therefore, please do not think you are alone! You know, most active students in schools are usually detained at schools under the provision for “hooliganism”.

I want to bring as an example the leader of Uighur Turks, Rabiya Gadiri. She spent 6 years in prison for fighting for the rights of her nation. Her husband, found guilty in national treason, had to flee the country. The communist regime tortured the family. At the moment, Rabiya Gadiri is 65 and lives in exile in the United States. Her three sons are in prison in China and her two daughters are under the house arrest. The government took away everything from Rabiya who was considered once as one of the richest people in the country. However, the regime did not stop here. Instead of blaming itself, it blames Rabiya for the Uighurs killed in Urumqi. But she is not intimidated with the blackmail and says that “she will continue her services in the fight for freedom. “

Is the Uighur issue a purely national problem? Is not it the same regime that in 1989 put forward tanks against its own citizens killing thousands of them? Yes, the attitude to Uighurs in China is not any different from the attitude toward Chinese people who have alternative points of view and thinking. The reason is that the nature of all dictatorships around the world is in violating human dignity. People who direct this kind of system cannot tolerate people with dignity.

I brought up Rabiya Gadiri’s name with a purpose. By mentioning her name, I simply wanted to remind people about the nation that is more heroic than us. It is worth pointing out that she gave birth to 11 children in the country where the government restricted people to one child per family. Adnan is your only son. I know that he was raised in a very well-provided and educated environment. He wanted to continue his education abroad, but he decided to complete his army services first. It seems that certain regimes prefer that intellectuals like Adnan leave the country rather than go to the national army.

I always mentioned Adnan as a role-model to my son who is in school now. In a while, my son will become a university student. What kind of life is ahead of him? This question really worries me. The history of dictatorships shows that the families that control the country only think about the future of their own offsprings. It is considered “dangerous” to provide the future of decent people like Adnan.

There is no end to dictatorships. We witnessed this in a recent history in the movements led by women. For instance, Benazir Bhutto who brought an end to the regime in Pakistan, Uighur mothers in China who threw themselves on tanks, and young student Nida in Iran who was shot in the chest in the movement for democracy. This fight can last long… maybe three years, five years, ten years…When it comes down to us, do not get discouraged by people who live their lives as nothing is happening around them. Everyone has a mission in this life. It seems that our children have a mission to continue our struggle. People like you, mothers like you, and families like yours are the most important wealth of this country. I ask you to be strong. No one in this country is secured from evil. If one day they arrest our children, we will need your support.