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Apparently, the newspaper of record got their hands on a shit ton of documents straight out of the Chinese government that supposedly reveal the ugly side of Xinjiang. If you can understand Chinese and you have nothing better to do, feel free to read the papers that are available in their entirety — not just what is said about the papers in English.‘Absolutely No Mercy’: Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of MuslimsAll the papers that the NYT collected for this expose.Unfortunately, not all of the papers (numbering more than 400 pages) above are available for reading. The NYT says the papers include speeches behind closed doors made by both Xi Jinping and Chen Quanguo, Xinjiang’s party secretary, as well as “directives and reports on the surveillance and control of the Uighur population in Xinjiang” and “material from internal investigations into local officials.” For lack of evidence that proves otherwise, we’ll just have to take their word for it.The NYT, did, however, make a few pages available. Some of these pages appear to come from a FAQ for students from Xinjiang who return home and find out that their family members had been sent to the camps (or what the docs refer to as schools). I don’t have time to do a thorough translation, so I’ll paraphrase.This doc has two questions: “Where is my family?” and “Why are they learning [in vocational schools]?” The answer to the first question is that they are in vocational training schools set up by the government, where they are doing fine and the government is paying for their expenses, so there is no need to worry about them. There is even an offer to let the readers communicate with their families via video chat.The answer to the second question is that the people are in the schools because they are influenced by terrorist ideology and if they are not educated in the schools then they will end up harming everyone else.Question: “My family members saw/heard one terrorist video and participated in “Taibilike” [transliterated name for some form of Islamist indoctrination] once, and they know they had done wrong and won’t do wrong again. Can they not go to school?”Answer: Maybe they know they screwed up, but one shouldn’t underestimate the power of terrorist indoctrination, which they can only overcome by going to school, learning Chinese, and picking up technical skills.The FAQ proceeds to compare going to school to seeking medical treatment — one may refuse to seek treatment thinking his/her condition isn’t severe, when in fact it is severe or might become severe in the future.The vocational training schools are compared to facilities that quarantine people with SARS — those inside must stay until their “disease” (terrorist indoctrination) is gone; otherwise, they bring the disease with them back home, which will harm their families and society at large.The document stresses that the people in the schools are not criminals and will not be convicted; it’s just that they were influenced by terrorist ideology, and if nothing is done about that then that will lead to trouble further down the road…(cont’d from the previous page) …so it’s best that the people in the schools are cleansed of terrorist ideology before they are released back into society.Q: “When will my family members be released?” (note: to be precise, the question asks when they can “graduate school”) Answer: Once they complete all the necessary coursework while abiding by school rules. Meanwhile, the students whose family members are attending school should cooperate with the education process by following the law themselves, not spreading rumors, and participating in “collective activities” — which will facilitate their family members’ release.Q: “Are my family members bad people? Will they be discriminated against once they are released?” Answer: They are likely to become bad people if they do not attend the schools and end up being indoctrinated by the terrorists. They will become useful to society once they come out; if they can’t find a job, the state can find one for them.The next page goes on to say that while the people in the schools may be “temporarily misunderstood,” in the end they will be respected by their neighbors, friends, and society at large.The vocational schools are compared to military training that people regularly undergo in Chinese high schools and universities, where there is an emphasis on discipline. Therefore, “in principle,” people in the schools should not be allowed to apply for early temporary release. But, as stated earlier, they are allowed to video chat with their families back home.People in the schools, upon completing all the necessary coursework, can apply to get out.And again, the government is paying for the vocational training schools, and it is willing to help out anyone who face financial difficulties because their family members are away in school and can’t pay for their expenses (In the next page, the state promises to make sure no one is unable to pay for their [regular university] education because someone in the family is receiving vocational education).There are two questions in this page: “Can I apply to shorten my family members’ education?” To which the answer is that it’s best that those in the schools stay there for as long as they need, for if they leave before they are cleansed of terrorist ideology then they will go back to square one, which isn't good for anyone.The second question is “Can my family members leave if they are old and unable to harm anybody else?” The answer goes on into the next page, but what is stated in this page is that terrorist indoctrination does not discriminate between ages, and so the people in the schools, regardless of their age, should stay there until they are completely free of terrorist ideological influence.Q: “You gave my family members passports so that they can travel abroad, but once they returned to China they were sent to the schools. Why?”Answer: Citizens of China have a right to travel abroad, but given the circumstances some of them are easily indoctrinated by terrorists in “sensitive countries” (presumably Iraq, Syria, and other places influenced by ISIS, all mentioned in this page), so they must undergo legal and patriotic education upon returning to China.This document is separate from the FAQ; it is a transcript of a speech delivered by Chen Quanguo where he attributes the government’s security measures in Xinjiang, including the vocational training schools, to Xi Jinping. Since this appears to be the beginning of a long speech there really isn’t a lot of substance here.This document states that local officials and police must work together to care for students with family members who were taken to the vocational training schools and let them understand the true purpose of the vocational schools, lest the students spread “untrue” information on social media which will be hard to contain.Students who return home may feel uncomfortable upon hearing that their family members had gone to the vocational training schools (because they aren’t with their families), so the authorities are instructed to meet up with the students as soon as possible, fill them in on what’s going on, and help them adjust.The authorities will be in daily contact with the students whose families were sent to the vocational training schools to make sure they don’t go haywire while education is still going on. Meanwhile, the students will receive civic education that would strengthen their identity with the Chinese state. The last sentence continues into the next page, but it says the state will provide opportunities for students to work.More talk of engaging with the students, getting them to feel the care of the Communist Party and government, and assessing their behavior.So these are the bulk of the available “Xinjiang Papers” (I left a few out, you can check them out for yourself on the NYT website). The NYT claims the papers “provide an unprecedented inside look at the crackdown on ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.” I would say these papers definitely provide an inside look into how the authorities deal with the “side effects” of their policies in Xinjiang (i.e. friends and family of those undergoing reeducation), but what was exposed don’t strike me as being outright atrocious. I was expecting firsthand evidence of what people in the West are repeating ad nauseam — that over a million people are being locked up in these camps, that these camps are not schools but legit concentration camps, and that horrible things are going on in these camps (e.g. sterilization, torture, etc).None of that is confirmed in the papers made available; all I got out of the papers is that the “vocational training schools” do indeed exist (nobody, including the Chinese government, has denied this), and that the government is trying to tell those affected by the camps that they are not trying to do anyone any harm, at least in the long run.Additionally, the papers that detail how a local official was removed from office for releasing thousands of people from the camps prematurely (not featured in this answer) suggest that the Chinese bureaucracy has not been responding to directives from above in an uniform manner.Anyway, it’s clear that some of quotes in the article were spun by the NYT in a way that makes them sound scarier than they really are. “Absolutely No Mercy,” which is found in the title of the article, is attributed to none other than Xi himself.The way the quote is inserted in the title (“‘Absolutely No Mercy’: Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims”) makes it look like Xi is saying there should be “absolutely no mercy” to Muslims or Muslim people inside the camps. Except he was referring to China’s overall counterterrorism strategy in response to a series of terror attacks that killed dozens of people and injured dozens more in 2014. “No mercy” meant no mercy for terrorists. There was no talk of mass-detaining people at all.Weeks earlier, militants with knives had gone on a rampage at another railway station, in southwest China, killing 31 people and injuring more than 140. And less than a month after Mr. Xi’s visit, assailants tossed explosives into a vegetable market in Urumqi, wounding 94 people and killing at least 39.Against this backdrop of bloodshed, Mr. Xi delivered a series of secret speeches setting the hard-line course that culminated in the security offensive now underway in Xinjiang. While state media have alluded to these speeches, none were made public.The text of four of them, though, were among the leaked documents — and they provide a rare, unfiltered look at the origins of the crackdown and the beliefs of the man who set it in motion.“The methods that our comrades have at hand are too primitive,” Mr. Xi said in one talk, after inspecting a counterterrorism police squad in Urumqi. “None of these weapons is any answer for their big machete blades, ax heads and cold steel weapons.”“We must be as harsh as them,” he added, “and show absolutely no mercy.”Although he did not order mass detentions in these speeches, he called on the party to unleash the tools of “dictatorship” to eradicate radical Islam in Xinjiang.Note Xi’s reference to the “tools of dictatorship;” the Chinese word that Xi most likely used for “dictatorship” is 专政, as in “people’s democratic dictatorship” (人民民主专政). Here, “dictatorship” is used in the Marxist context; that is, the act of the state using its power to suppress its enemies, namely radical Islam. It is slightly different from the mainstream definition of “dictatorship,” or what the Chinese would call 独裁 or 专制, where a government with absolute power oppresses its citizens.The NYT quotes Xi as saying “dictatorship” to make it seem like he admits to being an oppressive ruler, when Xi probably didn’t mean to sound dickish while saying that. Something was lost in translation. But I digress.The NYT also uses the quote “Round Up Everyone,” attributed to Chen Quanguo, as one of its subtitles, to insinuate that the camps, which Chen oversees, are targeting an entire population, presumably Uyghur Muslims. But Chen was talking about rounding up violent terrorists, not an entire group of people.Mr. Chen issued a sweeping order: “Round up everyone who should be rounded up.” The vague phrase appears repeatedly in internal documents from 2017.The quote itself can be found in one of the papers (highlighted by the NYT). “坚持应收尽收，有了就收” is translated by the New York Times as “Stick to rounding up everyone who should be rounded up. If they’re there, round them up.”There is nothing erroneous with that translation, except it leaves out what Chen said in the previous sentence — that he wants to “catch” (抓干净) “violent gangs and violent terrorists” (暴恐团伙和暴恐分子). Nowhere does he say he wants to target Uyghurs or Muslims, because they are Uyghurs or Muslims.Now it’s fair game to debate whether China’s policies in Xinjiang are beneficial for Uyghurs as a people, but if Chen wants to screw with Uyghurs as a people or screw with people on the basis that they are Uyghur or Muslim, he does not say that here.And that’s the interesting part; even among themselves, Chinese officials have insisted that they are not going after people because of their ethnicity or religion. Somehow, the NYT published excerpts from a speech purportedly delivered by Xi Jinping in which he warned against discriminating against Uyghurs and Muslims, and rejected the idea of eradicating Islam.In several surprising passages, given the crackdown that followed, Mr. Xi also told officials to not discriminate against Uighurs and to respect their right to worship. He warned against overreacting to natural friction between Uighurs and Han Chinese, the nation’s dominant ethnic group, and rejected proposals to try to eliminate Islam entirely in China.“In light of separatist and terrorist forces under the banner of Islam, some people have argued that Islam should be restricted or even eradicated,” he said during the Beijing conference. He called that view “biased, even wrong.”Hopefully, the NYT can release more of the documents it says it has, especially anything that corroborates the Western hearsay of atrocities that are going on in Xinjiang. Until then, the expose can sell itself as “one of the most significant leaks of government papers from inside China’s ruling Communist Party in decades,” but it does not live up to the hype.UPDATE (8/2020): Not so long after this answer was originally written, “应收尽收” resurfaced in the context of China’s response to the coronavirus — in which the authorities were told to “round up everyone” who were suspected to have COVID-19 (应收尽收 刻不容缓--社会--人民网).This has nothing to do with Xinjiang, but it shows how the phrase “round up everyone” in Chinese can have less nefarious connotations in certain contexts, such that it can’t be used by itself to prove bad behavior.

Its been 4 years since I graduated (NOT Passed out) from NSIT. To me it has always seemed to be a place which has been on the verge of taking off , but is not able to do so because nothing has ever been streamlined at NSIT. Consequently several efforts end up cancelling each other or working in isolation, without any concerted efforts. My 2 cents on consolidation of student initiatives and what the roles of admin should include:1) Relationship between Students and Teachers has to become more friendly:Currently both seem to be at war. Students consider teachers enemies - people who want to give them supplies and teachers hate students - because they are always colluding on mass bunks, cheating on exams, copying assignments and just trying to get away with minimal effort.We need an environment where students and teachers work together to create a healthy academic environment as well as a fun environment. Something like an official faculty vs student sports tournament and other faculty vs student events would go long way in breaking these barriers.2) An elected students committee with a Faculty Chair and a constitution to abide by:Currently the placement committee, mess reps etc - I don’t know how they are nominated/chosen. It seemed all cronyism during my time. Even the presidents and convenors of Moksha and Innovision are just groups which form themselves and present themselves to Bhatia sir or whoever is the Dean. With some ‘understanding’ the convenors are selected and they chose their team as they please. The mess/placement representatives are never answerable to students either.A proper constitution detailing how people can nominate themselves for placement committee, sports secretary, hostel representatives (one each), cultural secretary, head of inno & moksha and how a secret ballot election will take place will go a long way in people etching their posts seriously. Periodic open houses where each post holder faces the entire student body about their concerns and queries will ensure they keep their socks up. And finally an impeachment process incase certain conditions are met will make sure that elected members do not slack off. Of course, the faculty involvement should be there through the chairperson who may call for interviews of candidates as a final or a preliminary round in their election.3) Focus on research and not petty robotics projects:Students must realise the difference between ‘school projects’ which they make after taking crash course in embedded systems/robotics and come up with a toy with flashing lights and Real Research. Faculty is often eager to have students on board when they are writing papers and students must be encouraged to approach faculty to have them involved in the research they are undertaking. Consequently, the research output of the institute would increase as well as the number of conferences hosted and participated in by students and faculty would go up.4) Encouraging entrepreneurship has already been mentioned in a another response and I reiterate it here. In our society students are encouraged to choose ‘safe havens’ as careers which would make them good husbands and wives. Consequently people blindly chose engineering or medicine. In NSIT many people are studying not because they want to do engineering but only because they do not know what else to do. NSIT should gee students a chance to break free and discover their entrepreneurial instincts and this rat race of choosing jobs based on “Highest Package” has to be gradually put to an end.5) A media relations cell: It is extremely important that an institute manages its social media and print media presence. Not only to project the student activities and initiatives to external parties like recruiters but also to help prospective students. A media Cell (elected members) must be in place which works with the DSW to release periodic articles to newspapers as well as manage Facebook and Linked in pages. This should be the only interface with the media and all student bodies should send their desired coverage to this committee, which in turn would use its database of reporters to release press releases after suitable scrutiny. Needless to say, these members should be responsible for bad coverage of the Institute and they must take care of the Institutes Image and reputation. Why have students in media cell and not only faculty? Because it is the students who know the student activities the best. The dsw with the media Comittee should take care of coverage regarding administrative progress like course upgrades, new alliances, new infrastructural investments Etc. (Please do not mistake this as whitewashing, reputation can only be taken care of when the internal systems and processes are working fine)6) An alumni cell ( funded by institute)- which organises annual alumni meets- which organises annual city meets in various cities of india- which establishes various city wide alumni chapters(funded by alumni members- basically the enthu alumni)- which maintains detailed databases of alumni and what they are doing- which releases a periodic alumni newsletter e.g. reminisce- which conducts an alumni student mentorship program for interested alumni and students- which is headed by an elected alumni secretary7) A proper cricket team (By “Cricket” I am referring to a formal sports culture) and a cricket captain, a proper football team and a football captain, a tennis captain and a tennis team and also a table tennis team and captain Captains should be responsible in conducting practice sessions and should see to it that the teams practice hard for all sports events in other colleges and they should also be responsible for tournaments own and lost.8) Online students portal- which consists of student profiles- which has an online notice boadr where the admin posts all the notices, marks etc- something like the erstwhile NSIT LoungeThese initiatives are very basic and grass root. Other initiatives which lie higher in the pyramid, like literary clubs, special interest groups etc have to be taken once this basic framework is in place.peace

I am deeply hurt by the way some national media channels and the so called pseudo nationalists are jumping their guns and generalizing false impressions about Kerala. I would request them not to mess with their limited knowledge; would rather expect them to be more tolerant in exercising restraint when it comes to blatantly abusing their dangerously cramped intellectual prowess!!! Remember that Kerala has produced some of the best intellectuals - from Shankaracharya, to Space Scientists, Engineers, Doctors, Nurses, IT Professionals and Business Entrepreneurs. Please don’t try to break us, we are no fools.I would like to cite an example of how the Keralite’s worked in unison during recent floods in the State.Rescue Operations during the entire course of 2018 floods in Kerala was a culmination of Kerala’s prolific cultural refinement, educational progress, smart application of the learning process (both scholarly & practical), sharp presence of mind and a deep rooted impulse to genuine humane aspects replete with the caring & sharing attitude.Right from the onset of floods, the state witnessed a mass hysteria of voluntary social activity all through the length and breadth of Kerala. Keralites from other States/Countries too got involved in collecting & transporting huge loads of Relief materials for their State - be it packed food, bottled water, clothes, medicines, power banks, cash etc. Many of them returned back to Kerala so as to participate in the massive relief operations.The devastating floods have proved that Malayalees are highly Mass Responsive, Self Reliant, Well Organized, Quick Learners and Efficient Implementer’s. They are less dependent on external help and didn’t wait too long seeking it. Reacting spontaneously, they got involved in the process by leading and setting an example for the domino effect to catch quick momentum. School & college students, the unemployed, office goers, businessmen, political workers, IT professionals, doctors, pharmacists, nurses, govt.officials, telecommunication networks, media, NGO's, NRI's, film actors, people from other states especially the Sikhs, Bihari's, Bengali's ... young & old volunteers, all of them left their homes and stormed into relief camps, bus stands, railway stations, auditoriums, stadiums etc where relief & rehabilitation efforts were organized in full swing. Everybody did their best. Men, Material, Machinery and all forms of available resources were being put into strategic & tactical use - and were being pushed hard beyond their capable limits.The first 2 days of rescue operations were extremely crucial when the Police, NDRF, Fire force and Local population were putting in a concerted effort. Truck/Carriage owners released their vehicles for transportation of rescue personnel and materials to inaccessible areas. Ambulances and private vehicles willfully pressed themselves into top-gear operations. Fishermen with their boats (loaded on trucks) from different parts of Kerala arrived in hordes. Navy, Army, Air Force & the Para Military forces were doing all their best. The joint effort helped rescue and rehabilitate thousands every day.Here in Kerala, its almost thickly populated with vegetation carpet cover of tall coconut palms, trees & all sorts of natural vegetation. This hampered the aerial operations. There are innumerable narrow lanes, drains, wells, canals, high rise walls; displaced snakes, scorpions, centipedes strewn all over the sludgy & slippery footholds. This is where the fishermen of Kerala proved their mettle and dedication.Fishermen from Punthura (Trivandrum), Thangasseri (Kollam), Alleppy, Kozhikode, Mallapuram, rest of Kerala and a few from the neighboring State of Tamil Nadu contributed with their high occupancy boats. Fully equipped with never-depleting energy levels, an extremely fearless mindset and a completely selfless & voluntary approach, these fishermen cruised, waded & pushed their big heavy boats through those newly formed courses of muddy waters - manifested with dangerous gushes and gravity defying swirls that could severely crash the rescue boats against trees, concrete structures, posts, transformers and onrushing débris. Finding their way through narrow inaccessible lanes, they rescued local residents who were stranded with little or no hope left in them. Fishing boats that battled the seamless boundaries of the lashing sea waves, were now cruising through the seamless boundaries of the lashing flood waters. Swirling along rivers, lakes, canals, bunds, and then over roads and tracks, streets, compound walls, wells, cars and bikes, they reached the roof tops of houses where many had taken refuge. These fishermen fought all odds. They had no formal training in these conditions but rescued thousands. These fishermen laid themselves down into the slushy waters to allow people step onto their backs and climb into rescue boats. There was no talk of caste, creed or religion. There was only one concern - selfless service with no expectation of rewards. They did their job and when the rescue operations ended, left for their homes. Now they are back to the sea and are cutting across sea waves to make up for their livelihood.Almost every section of the population contributed in some form or the other and more than half of them have already started the process of donating their 1 month salary towards rehabilitation & restoration of the State and its people. Keralites have pledged in unison that they will rebuilt Kerala in the most efficient manner starting from local communities at grassroots level to the more complex macro aspects of development. Kerala has successfully carried out many such socially beneficial campaigns and they do what they preach - irrespective of incumbent governments. This is the spirit of Kerala. Nobody can dampen it. Jai Kerala. Jai Hind.