China Bans Ramadan!

Chinese authorities across the
country’s restive northwest
region of Xinjiang have banned
Muslim students and civil
servants from taking part in all
“religious activities” during the
holy month of Ramadan.

In a region where around 45 per
cent of the population is Muslim,
a series of notices issued by
schools and government
departments have “strictly
forbidden” anyone from taking
part in fasting, and some have
even been banned from
performing their daily prayers in
mosques.

Notices said the bans were
designed to prevent the use of
schools and government offices
to “promote religion”, while local
political organisations have been
reminded of the ruling party’s
officially atheist stance.

But the decision to ban Ramadan
is particularly controversial for
Xinjiang, coming amid an
extensive security crackdown on
the minority Uighur Muslim
population.

Authorities have blamed
separatist Uighurs for a string of
recent terror attacks on civilian
crowds and government
institutions, but the group denies
involvement and activists have
accused Beijing of exaggerating
the threat as an excuse to
impose restrictions.

On Tuesday, authorities in some
communities in Xinjiang held
celebrations of the anniversary of
the founding of the Communist
Party and provided free food as a
test of whether Muslim guests
were fasting, according to Dilxat
Raxit, a Germany-based
spokesman for the rights group
World Uyghur Congress.
Chinese paramilitary police
man a checkpoint on the road
to the riot-affected Uighur town
of Lukqun, Xinjiang province, on
June 28, 2013, after a flare-up
of violence
Raxit said: “This will lead to more
conflicts if China uses coercive
measures to rule and to
challenge Uighur beliefs.”
Similar bans have been imposed
in the past on fasting for
Ramadan, which began at
sundown Saturday, but never
with the backdrop of such a
fragile security situation.
“No teacher can participate in
religious activities, instil religious
thoughts in students or coerce
students into religious activities,”
said one statement on the
website of the No. 3 Grade
School in Ruoqiang County in
Xinjiang.

Activists from China’s Uighur
minority hold a sign as they
demonstrate against Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit in
Turkey on October 9, 2010 in
Istanbul
It went on: “Students shall not
participate in religious activities;
they shall not study scripts or
read poems at script and choir
classes; they shall not wear any
religious emblems; and no
parent or others can force
students to have religious beliefs
or partake in religious activities.”
Government-run news
organisations have also been
involved, with a Yili-based news
site running articles saying
fasting is detrimental to the
physical wellbeing of young
students, who should eat
regularly.

In the city of Bole, retired
teachers from the Wutubulage
Middle School were called in to
stand guard at mosques and
prevent students from entering,
according to a statement on the
municipal party committee
website.

A group of Uighur women
outside a mosque in Kashgar,
farwest China’s Xinjiang region,
November 2013
The commercial bureau for
Turpan, an oasis town in the
Taklamakan Desert, said in a
statement that civil servants are
“strictly forbidden” to fast or
perform the Salat prayer ritual in
a mosque.

The ruling party is wary of
religious activities it worries
might serve as a rallying point for
opposition to one-party rule.
Controls on worship are
especially sensitive in Xinjiang
and in neighboring Tibet, where
religious faith plays a large role
in local cultures.

The ruling party says religion and
education should be kept
separate and students should
not be subject to religious
influences. That rule is rarely
enforced for children of Han
Chinese, who, if they have a
religion, are mostly Buddhist,
Daoist or Christian.