Podcast Summary: Click Here – "Erased: Silencing a Kindergarten"
Podcast: Click Here (Recorded Future News)
Episode Air Date: December 23, 2025
Host: Dina Temple-Raston
Guest: Abdoulaye Ayoob
Episode Focus: The story of a Uyghur linguist’s quest to preserve his people’s language through a kindergarten in Xinjiang, and the Chinese government’s campaign to erase Uyghur identity.
Overview of Main Theme
This episode is the first in a special series titled “Erased,” investigating China’s efforts to erase Uyghur culture, language, and identity. Through the personal journey of Abdoulaye Ayoob—a linguist who dared to open a Uyghur-language kindergarten—listeners are taken into the quiet yet systematic dismantling of a culture, highlighting how government policies, surveillance, and intimidation combine to silence minorities. The episode warns that such authoritarian erasure doesn’t always begin with violence or military force, but with subtler acts like banning books, rewriting lessons, and policing language.
Key Points & Insights
1. Abdoulaye Ayoob’s Dream and Early Struggles
- Abdoulaye’s Vision: In 2010, Abdoulaye dreamed of creating a Uyghur-language kindergarten where children could “laugh and learn and speak their own language.”
- Early Success: The school started small but quickly became popular, with long waiting lists. [02:40]
- Quote: “We call it Wisdom of Happiness because we want kids to be happy.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [02:50]
2. Cultural Suppression in Xinjiang
- Subtle Beginnings: Discrimination was not obvious to Abdoulaye as a child, but signs appeared over time—no Uyghur faces in schoolbooks, parents warning children not to ask “difficult questions.” [06:14]
- Militarization: The arrival of Chinese soldiers to guard mining sites marked a shift; intimidation and arbitrary violence became facts of daily life.
- Book Bans: The removal of Uyghur-language books from the library was a quiet first step in erasing culture. [08:29]
- Quote: “That’s how it starts. Not with explosions, not even with words, but with missing books. A quiet dismantling.” – Dina Temple-Raston [08:41]
3. The Power and Threat of Language
- Language as Identity: Abdoulaye grasped, both intellectually and emotionally, how quickly language can disappear—watching his own daughter lose Uyghur in 6 months after moving to the US.
- Quote: “As a linguist, I knew… But when it came to me, when my daughter lost her language… I said no.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [10:26]
- Language = Resistance: The Chinese government understands that a shared language binds people into a community, which is why they target it for erasure.
- Quote: “They want us to live as individuals, as 12 million Abduli and 12 million guys. Not as a nation.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [11:43]
4. Founding the Kindergarten – A Quiet Rebellion
- Filling the Gap: Abdoulaye returned home, realizing that kindergartens were critical—language loss started there due to “Chinese-bilingual” preschools that were, in reality, Mandarin-only.
- Legal Grey Area: There were no explicit rules about language in kindergartens, allowing Abdoulaye to initially operate without interference. [16:27]
- Innovation: He adapted “Dora the Explorer” for Uyghur children, seamlessly integrating their native language in playful ways. [17:56]
- State Surveillance Arrives: Rapid visits from security officials underscored the danger of his project. [18:34]
- Quote: “I felt happy that they couldn’t really understand my writing.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [18:43]
5. Teaching Freedom as Well as Language
- Beyond Language: Abdoulaye’s school fostered independence and critical thinking, a stark contrast to the regimented obedience expected in Chinese education.
- Quote: “We didn’t only teach kids language, we teach kids how to be an independent human being. We gave them choice.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [21:12]
6. The Mother Language Movement and Its Suppression
- Movement Grows: The school’s popularity exploded—going viral among mothers and in the broader Uyghur community, becoming the nucleus of the “Mother Language Movement.” [21:59]
- Bureaucratic Clampdown: An attempt to open a second school publicly resulted in government backlash—police harassment, staff resignations, and the ultimate closure of the schools. [22:35–24:09]
- Lingering Trauma: Items left in abandoned classrooms became silent testaments to what was lost, as parents were too afraid to reclaim their children’s belongings. [24:25]
7. Abdoulaye’s Arrest and Aftermath
- Subterfuge for Safety: To prevent panic and possible violence, Abdoulaye pretended the school was being relocated, not closed.
- Detention: Despite his caution, he was detained by authorities, hooded, and subjected to brutal interrogation and torture. [26:49–28:38]
- Quote: “I thought, maybe they will kill me.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [26:49]
- Upon Release: Surveillance had intensified—checkpoints everywhere, Uyghurs marked and monitored, unable to rent homes or find work. [29:13]
- Exile: Abdoulaye fled to Turkey, later Norway, continuing his advocacy and storytelling from abroad despite the risks to his family remaining in China. [30:57]
8. Cost of Speaking Out
- Collective Punishment: His sister and others close to him were arrested as reprisal for his activism—a tactic widely used against Uyghur dissidents.
- Quote: “How can I say that… because of my sister I should stop?… They told me that this is our last defense… When their life is in danger, how can I keep silence?” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [32:06]
9. The Broader Warning
- Global Relevance: Dina draws parallels to other places where demands for “sameness” threaten minority communities, stressing that cultural erasure happens gradually and deliberately.
- Quote: “Cultures don’t disappear overnight. They’re dismantled deliberately, piece by piece.” – Dina Temple-Raston [03:12]
- Chinese Government Response: The Embassy claims all ethnic groups in Xinjiang “fully enjoy” their rights, but the episode’s reporting counters those official statements. [34:45]
- Conclusion: “Stability is not freedom, and silence is not peace.” – Dina Temple-Raston [34:59]
Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)
- “I started in 2010. First I wrote about it. First I wrote my dream and what it looks like and how we do this...” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [01:29]
- “No, the happiness put me in real trouble.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [03:06]
- “Before, my father just collect books randomly. Then he started collecting books deliberately.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [08:59]
- “She said it’s because of the former kindergarten… If the kids don’t listen to them, they just beat them.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [20:05]
- “It became a social phenomenon. People all started to talk about it.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob (on the permit denial going viral) [22:35]
- “Our school paralyzed because we can’t get that money back.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [23:53]
- “He kept up the act to keep the peace and to buy time to figure out his next move.” – Dina Temple-Raston [25:50]
- “I thought that… maybe they will kill me.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [26:49]
- “I found, like, the Uyghur homeland changed, like, completely… every 500 meters there’s a checkpoint.” – Abdoulaye Ayoob [29:13]
- “Stability is not freedom, and silence is not peace.” – Dina Temple-Raston [34:59]
Important Segment Timestamps
- [01:29] Abdoulaye describes his dream and the origins of the kindergarten
- [06:14] Describes early signs of cultural exclusion in education
- [08:29] Discussion of book bans and subtle censorship
- [10:06–11:43] The personal loss of language and family identity
- [16:27] Explains the legal ambiguity he used to operate Uyghur kindergartens
- [17:56] Innovative language teaching by adapting “Dora the Explorer”
- [18:34] First visit by state security officers
- [21:59] Growth of the kindergarten and the “Mother Language Movement”
- [22:35] The viral permit denial and ensuing governmental backlash
- [24:25] Emotional aftermath—abandoned belongings and fear
- [26:49–28:38] Arrest, interrogation, and torture
- [29:13] Post-prison surveillance state and exile
- [30:57–32:06] Continuous activism, the price on family and community
- [34:59] The host’s concluding reflection on freedom and silence
Tone and Language
The episode maintains a narrative, heartfelt tone, blending investigative rigor with deeply personal testimony. Dina Temple-Raston weaves Abdoulaye’s story with contextual commentary and lightly guides listeners through complex, emotional ground without jargon or sensationalism.
Final Reflection
Through Abdoulaye Ayoob’s journey, “Erased: Silencing a Kindergarten” exposes the subtle machinery of cultural erasure, as well as the courage it takes to resist. The episode warns how easily loss can go unremarked until it is too late—and how vital language, memory, and even the smallest acts of teaching can be in maintaining cultural identity.
For listeners new to this subject, this episode is a deeply human story about the front lines of authoritarian control and cultural survival—told with clarity, urgency, and compassion.