Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2015-06-17
While Muslims across the world begin fasting during the month of Ramadan, Uighur Muslim’s of the far western Xinjiang district have banned Muslim party members, civil servants, students and teachers from fasting.
Spokesman for the exiled Uighur group, the World Uighur Congress Dilxat Raxit said China is increasing its bans and monitoring as Ramadan approaches.
“The faith of the Uighurs has been highly politicized, and the increase in controls could cause sharp resistance.”
Chinese authorities have set restrictions on Uighur Muslims in the north western region of Xinjiang every Ramadan which has a population of eight million Turkish-speaking Uighur.
“They are extracting guarantees from parents, promising that their children won’t fast on Ramadan,” Raxit told Radio Free Asia.
According to the government’s website, halaal restaurants in Jinghe County, near the Kazakh border, were encouraged by food safety officials to stay open during day hours in Ramadan.
Earlier in December, China banned the wearing of Islamic veiled robes in public in Urumqi, the capital of the province of Xinjiang.
The law in the predominantly Muslim region came as Beijing intensified its so-called campaign against “religious extremism” that it blames for recent violence.
Xinjiang, which activists call East Turkestan, has been autonomous since 1955 but continues to be the subject of massive security crackdowns by Chinese authorities. – Agencies
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