China Restricts Ramadan Fasting in Xinjiang

Categorized | Loon Politics

Tags | Anti-Muslim, Atheism, China, Communist Party, fasting, Islam, Islamophobia, Ramadan, Religious Freedom, State Atheism, Xinjiang

China Restricts Ramadan Fasting in Xinjiang

Posted on 01 August 2012 by Emperor

State Atheism at work (h/t: Wilfredo A. Ruiz):

China restricts Ramadan fasting in restive Xinjiang

(English Al-Ahram)

Authorities in China’s restive northwestern region of Xinjiang have banned Muslim officials and students from fasting during Ramadan, prompting an exiled rights group to warn of new violence.

Guidance posted on numerous government websites called on Communist Party leaders to restrict Muslim religious activities during the holy month, including fasting and visiting mosques.

Xinjiang is home to around nine million Uighurs, a Turkic speaking, largely Muslim ethnic minority, many of whom accuse China’s leaders of religious and political persecution.

The region has been rocked by repeated outbreaks of ethnic violence, but China denies claims of repression and relies on tens of thousands of Uighur officials to help it govern Xinjiang.

A statement from Zonglang township in Xinjiang’s Kashgar district said that “the county committee has issued comprehensive policies on maintaining social stability during the Ramadan period.

“It is forbidden for Communist Party cadres, civil officials (including those who have retired) and students to participate in Ramadan religious activities.”

The statement, posted on the Xinjiang government website, urged party leaders to bring “gifts” of food to local village leaders to ensure that they were eating during Ramadan.

Similar orders on curbing Ramadan activities were posted on other local government websites, with the educational bureau of Wensu county urging schools to ensure that students do not enter mosques during Ramadan.

The holy month began in Xinjiang on July 20. The orders to curb religious activities were sent out across the region at different times, some before the start of Ramadan and some afterwards.

During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk and strive to be more pious and charitable.

An exiled rights group, the World Uyghur Congress, warned the policy would force “the Uighur people to resist (Chinese rule) even further.”

“By banning fasting during Ramadan, China is using administrative methods to force the Uighur people to eat in an effort to break the fasting,” said group spokesman Dilshat Rexit in a statement.

Xinjiang saw its worst ethnic violence in recent times in July, 2009, when Uighurs attacked members of the nation’s dominant Han ethnic group in the city of Urumqi, sparking clashes in which 200 people from both sides died, according to the government.

NurAlia

Garibaldi..

Although I was born in Malaysia, my family is from Ningxia Province. You may know it as Gansu.

I am Hui Chinese. Most of the Hui are Muslim.

If it seems I am minimising the plight of the Uyguhr people, I am sorry for making that impression. I thought I was bringing a little more knowledge to the forum, but maybe the way I put it was the wrong way.

If it seems I am minimising oppression and violence, I am sorry, and will be more careful in how I express myself here.

Thank you.
Garibaldi

That’s a pretty disingenuous question Steve. China has official “State Atheism” and that’s all that has been referred to here.
Common Sense

@Steve

Thank you Steve for simply restating what I just said. -_-
Steve

“Where is the Atheist Holy Book so that I can take “violent” verses out of context and call Atheism violent? Oh right, it doesn’t exist.”

Of course there is no atheist “holy book” – the only universal common ground amongst atheists is non belief in a god or gods and that’s it.
Garibaldi

@Nur Ali, Your comment reads like apologia for pretty restrictive Chinese government policies and directives. This article is quite straight forward.

Al-Ahram is not Western press. Secondly, we do point out ethnic strife, and we are very familiar with the conflict between the Uygurs and the Han. The Chinese government has had a policy of moving settlers West, in a place where the Uygurs were historically dominant.

Ramadan is viewed as a religious obligation for Muslims, while it is true that Communist Cadres are disallowed, why should “students” be? The specific instruction is also to stop students from attending mosque during Ramadan, if these schools were only peopled by Han there would not be any need for that, and it is true that most Han are not Muslim in Xinjiang.

“Mocking” village leaders is also pretty despicable, but it seems you see it as only a small infraction?

It is completely justified to point out the restrictions coming from Chinese authorities on religious practice of Uyghurs. This is not new, or the first time and it also does not marginalize the ethnic component of the conflict either.
NurAlia

This article is misleading, much like the other articles that you have pointed out as ethnic strife translated by the western press as religious strife.

If you notice, the article claims that China (implying the central government of China) restricts Ramadan. If you know anything about Chinese Muslims, you will note that Xinjiang Province, which is actually an ‘autonomous region’ is goverened by the Province (like an American state) and is more free to impose law that doesnt relate to the rest of China.

Understand that this particular province is legislated by Hun Chinese with the Uyghur (an ethnic group where most of the people are Muslim)being in the minority. The Uyghur have been asserting thier rights in this region for many years, and the Hun have been resisting, sometimes with violence.

This is more ethnic strife than it is religious strife.

If you read the article more carefully, rather than the title, you will see that the Province government (not the central government of China) restricts only communist party members (the Uyghur tend not to belong) schools run by the state (Uyghurs most likely dont attend), and to only ‘mock’ religious leaders with ‘gifts of food’.

Obviously, they cant force a person to eat.
Géji

“eh, the communist party is highly secular, I was expecting it.”

It has nothing to do with “secularism”, plenty of religious people are secular and vice-versa. There isn’t really any conflict between religion and secularism, as long as both adheres to their principal values by respecting human rights. But when militant atheism that is expressing itself in this case- communism, tries and oppress the religious under the guise of “secularism”, or when the religious tries to oppress the atheist under the guise of “religion”, that means they’re just using both those principals to further the oppression of the “other” and has nothing to do either with the values of religion or secularism, they’re just bunch of oppressors trying to validate their intolerant nature on “ideology”.
Common Sense

Let’s not forget that Mao Zedong of the Chinese government has killed millions of people simply for opposing him. He’s an Atheist. Why isn’t this considered “Atheist extremism,” or “Radical Atheism”? Why is it only considered to be the acts of Religion when “Religious” people kill others? Zedong has killed millions of more people that any religious extremist ever has in history. But this is never brought up. Where is the Atheist Holy Book so that I can take “violent” verses out of context and call Atheism violent? Oh right, it doesn’t exist.
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Christian-friend

eh, the communist party is highly secular, I was expecting it.
http://www.youtube.com/user/GargamelGold?feature=mhee CriticalDragon1177

@Emperor

China still has a long way to go as far as human rights are concerned, and this is just another sign of that fact.
http://www.youtube.com/user/GargamelGold?feature=mhee CriticalDragon1177

@mindy1

I agree. This is very upsetting.
mindy1

Sad that faith cannot be practised freely.