In a major crackdown on religious freedoms,
China has forced the imams of eastern
Muslim majority district of Xinjiang to dance
in the street, and swear to an oath that they
will not teach religion to children as well as
telling them that prayer is harmful to the
soul.
During the incident, reported recently by World
Bulletin, Muslim imams were forced to
brandish the slogan that “our income comes
from the CKP not from Allah.”
State Chinese news said the imams were
gathering in a square in the name of
civilization where they were forced to dance
and chant out slogans in support of the state.
The slogans included statements glorifying
the state over religion such as “peace of the
country gives peace to the soul”.
They also gave speeches telling youth to stay
away from mosques, and that the prayer was
harmful to their health, encouraging them to
dance instead.
Female teachers were instructed to teach
children to stay away from religious education
and made to swear an oath that they will
keep children away from religion.
Uighur Muslims are a Turkish-speaking
minority of eight million in the northwestern
Xinjiang region.
Xinjiang, which activists call East Turkestan,
has been autonomous since 1955 but
continues to be the subject of massive
security crackdowns by Chinese authorities.
Rights groups accuse Chinese authorities of
religious repression against Uighur Muslims in
Xinjiang in the name of counter terrorism.
Last November, Xinjiang banned the
practicing of religion in government buildings,
as well as wearing clothes or logos
associated with religious extremism.
In August, the northern Xinjiang city of
Karamay prohibited young men with beards
and women in burqas or hijabs from boarding
public buses.
Earlier in July, China banned students and
government staff from observing Ramadan
fasting, as officials tried to encourage locals
in Xinjiang not to wear Islamic veils.
[Reported By Muslim Village Magazine]
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