China Raids Uighur Muslims’ Qur’an Schools

OnIslam & News Agencies

Tuesday, 16 September 2014 00:00

The crackdown on Urumqi madrasas is not the first this year.

BEIJING – In a new sweep to obliterate the religious identity in the far-western Muslim majority Xinjiang, Chinese authorities have raided several Islamic schools in the district’s capital Urumqi, arresting dozens of Muslims.

"China thinks that Uighurs who uphold their faith and use the internet are a challenge to China's rule," Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress, told Reuters on Monday, September 15.

"China's hostility will probably mean even more Uighurs lose their freedom," Raxit added, echoing fears of Uighur Muslims amid stifling policies.

More the 85 people were arrested on latest crackdown on Muslim Uighur madrassahs, a crackdown that "rescued" 190 children, according to the official Legal Daily.

The crackdown on Urumqi madrasas is not the first this year. In August, China claimed that it has "rescued" 82 children from Islamic schools.

Raiding Urumqi madrasas came as part of Chinese government’s campaign against unsanctioned religious publicity materials, activities and teachings.

Xinjiang 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.

Rights groups say restrictions on Uighurs’ religious and cultural freedoms have stoked tensions.

In August, Chinese authorities issued a decree banning Muslims wearing beards, Islamic clothing, hijab or niqab from using public buses in Xinjiang city of Karamay.

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.

No Religious Classes

With Chinese authorities imposing a ban on Madrassahs, or religious schools, Muslims have been seeking underground schools to offer their kids a religious education.

“Only in the politics class will there be a few chapters introducing the main religions in the world, which includes Islam. Apart from that, there’s no class on religion [in Xinjiang],” Xiaofeng Chen, a Beijing-based spokesman for Save the Children, which runs education programs in Xinjiang, told UCA.

The latest crackdown on Xinjiang madrassahs was condemned by Uighur Muslims who accused China of stifling their religious practices.

“People, especially women and young people who are not allowed to mosques due to tradition and by the government have the need to learn religious knowledge; otherwise, the religious population is getting older and disappearing gradually,” one Muslim man in Urumqi, who also declined to be identified, said.

Many Muslims have warned that the ban on Islamic education was fostering radicalized teachings in the autonomous region of Xinjiang.

“The discrimination and lack of normal religious education has helped greatly in spreading radical thought among young people, including many of my friends,” a Muslim man in his early 30s in Urumqi said.

Since 2001, China has conducted a sweeping security crackdown in Xinjiang, further repressing Uighur culture, religious tradition and language.

Analysts say the policy of transferring Han Chinese to Xinjiang to consolidate Beijing's authority has increased the proportion of Han in the region from five percent in the 1940s to more than 40 percent now.

Beijing views the vast region of Xinjiang as an invaluable asset because of its crucial strategic location near Central Asia and its large oil and gas reserves.