Jewher Ilham, an Uyghur woman (the Uyghurs are a turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Center Asia, today Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China) who was born and raised in China. Ilham lives in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. She is a student at Indiana University Bloomington. She loves singing, dancing, acting and cooking.
In 2013, Ilham was to join her father Ilham Tohti, a prominent scholar and professor, for one month at Indiana University, where he was going to be a visiting scholar for the 2014-15 school year. At the Beijing international airport, her father was arrested by the Chinese police.
"At least one person in my family should be free." her father decided to put Ilham on the plane to Chicago. Ilham arrived the United State along with a J2 visa, meaning she had to be accompanied by the J1 Visa holder, who was still in Beijing. She called the number her father gave her, Elliot Sperling, associate professor of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, a friend of Ilham Tohti, picked her up at the airport.
Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur economist, is known for his research on Uyghur-Han relations and criticism of the Chinese government's policies toward the Uyghurs in Xinjiang province.
Tohti remained under house arrest for two days after he was released from the airport. On Jan. 14, 2014, he was arrested by the authorities. On Sept. 23, 2014, he was sentenced to life in prison, on separation-related charges.
Since her father was put in jail, Ilham started to fight for her father's freedom by accepting interviews from American presses, attending conferences about human rights and freedom of speech.
A book about her titled "Jewher Ilham: A Uyghur Daughter's Fight to Free Her Father" was published in 2015. Some of the photographs of her here are in the book.
"I miss my father. I really really miss him"
JewherIlham
