Break their Lineage, Break their Roots… is a R&D play that tells the real-life stories of Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslims who have been accused of ‘three evils’ - namely, ‘separatism, extremism and terrorism’ - by the Chinese state. Since 2014, extreme measures have been put in place in Xinjiang in northwest China, a region that is also known as East Turkestan. Ranging from surveillance and torture to sexual violence and forced sterilisation, these took on more intensity in 2016 with the deployment of Party Secretary Chen Quanguo in the region from Tibet. Reportedly, over a million people have been detained for something as simple as having a foreign app on their mobile phones. The first of its kind, the play adds new insights to their lives before and after periods of incarceration and torture in detention that the state describes as rehabilitation centres. the story is one of oppression and social engineering that, in scale and cruelty, recalls the N**i regime of the 1940s. Based on interviews with Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslims
including Tursunay Ziyawudun, Abduweli Ayup, Qelbinur Sidik, Abduréhim Paraç and Uyghur Tribunal statements. In collaboration with iceandfire, a unique human rights theatre group in UK whose theatre-making is renowned as provocative, principled and innovative. Their work has been recognized by the prestigious Liberty Human Rights Arts Awards. Raminder Kaur and Christine Bacon- Interviewers
Rahima Mahmut and Ekber Tursun- Interpreters
Tarun Jasani- Film and photography
Rachel Harris- Consultancy
Aakash Wankhede- Publicity
