Uyghur man imprisoned for seven years for teaching his native language

An Uyghur educator has been imprisoned for seven years in China's restive Xinjiang region for violating Chinese policy by instructing students in Uyghur, which happens to be their native language. Adil Tursun has been previously honoured by the government for his work.

He was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to seven-year imprisonment in 2018, reports Radio Free Asia.

Adil had earlier been recognised as one of the "nation's outstanding teachers" by the government. He was arrested by authorities for the "crime" of teaching students in the Uyghur language as they did not understand the instructions in Chinese.

RFA called Kona Sheher county police to find out about Adil's sentence. The police, however, declined to answer questions. They did not deny that the teacher had been jailed.

"After his mistake was investigated, he was arrested. It was a previous mistake of his - to speak in Uyghur to his students while bilingual education was being implemented," the media outlet quoted a police officer in Kashgar prefecture.

"He was handed over to the national-security branch of the police department and was sentenced to prison two years after his arrest," he added.

China has been called on for such acts multiple times. Earlier in October, Forty-three countries called on China to "ensure full respect for the rule of law" for the Muslim Uyghurs.

The statement was made at the United Nations and sparked outrage from Beijing. The statement has been signed by the United States along with several European and Asian member states and other countries.

(With inputs from agencies)