Award Kashgar UN World Heritage Status and Stop its Demolition!

To:  UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Honorable Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, Honorable leaders and citizens of the world

Save our Heritage: Protect Kashgar, the Silk Route City from Demolition! Award Kashgar UN World Heritage Site Status!

We, the undersigned, object in the strongest terms about the demolition of the Old City of Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China.

The City of Kashgar is an ancient trading post of the Silk Route that is being systematically erased off the map by the Chinese government and will be replaced by "a mix of midrise apartments, plazas, alleys widened into avenues and reproductions of ancient Islamic architecture"*. This is a travesty! Kashgar is a thousand year old city with a rich and vibrant history, with its ancient bazaars, alleys, houses and streets. It's where Genghis Khan and Tamelane once rode their horses.

Although China supports an international plan to designate major Silk Road landmarks as United Nations World Heritage sites, Kashgar is missing from that list.

We, the undersigned, demand that Kashgar immediately be awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status, existing structures be supported and restored and any development that occurs protects and complements the existing city.

For more information please read:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/world/asia/28kashgar.html*
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/travel/11explore.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashgar
http://www.gluckman.com/Kashgar.html

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Award Kashgar UN World Heritage Status and Stop its Demolition! Petition to UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Honorable Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, Honorable leaders and citizens of the world was created by and written by Nikhat Rasheed (nikhat_rasheed@hotmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.