Zakirjan Mijit (Siddiq) was born in November 1976 in Shoruk village, Atush.
In 1993, he was admitted to the Faculty of Mathematics at Shihezi University. After graduating in 1998, he became a mathematics teacher at the Bingtuan Teachers’ College. He became well known for his poems and high-level translations of classical Chinese poetry. He received translator training at the prestigious Lu Xun Literary Institute.
Zakirjan Mijit was first detained in 2006 and was dismissed from his job afterward. During that period, he served as an editor of the Diyarim forum. He also continuously translated classical Chinese poems into Uyghur and published them on online forums.
He participated in the program “Cultural Garden,” where he gained recognition as someone who knew the genealogy of seven generations of his ancestors and for his eloquence. He was widely appreciated by the public for his speeches, his skill in playing the dutar, and his poetic talent.
In 2011, he was detained again and became a political prisoner for a few months. After that, he completely lost his job as a manager at the “Ihlas” Food Factory and later established the Tengritagh Translation Company.
Zakirjan Mijit was detained third time in 2017 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
His wife, Belqiz Tömür, was also detained in late 2016. They have two children, and their current whereabouts are unknown.
Belqiz Tömür is from Astane township in Kumul. In 1995, she studied Arabic at a language technical school in Kashgar established by Ablimit Abdulla. In 2011, the couple translated the book “Don’t Be Sad” from Arabic into Uyghur. The book was published in Istanbul by Taklimakan Uyghur Publishing House.
Some of his works found on the internet:
“The Third World Informational–Psychological War” Author: Vladimir Lisichkin and Leonid Shelepin (Russia) Editor: Zakirjan Mijit
Conversation with Uyghurs who see abroad
My son (poem)
Mamutjan (poem)
Advice to myself (poem)
Me (poem)
Those … which want to tell my angle (poem)
Return to heart (poem)
You, me and the wall builder (poem)
Come, take care of me (poem)
Other than love … (poem)
One person (poem)
In lost (poem)
The Flowers of Evil – Charles Baudelair (translation)
Of Russia (in Uyghur translated as Motherland) – Vladimir Nabokov (translation)
