FT, 17 July 2013

Many Muslims in China’s restive province of Xinjiang are being prevented from celebrating Ramadan because of an increased security clampdown, according to a Beijing-based Uighur activist and a human rights group.

The Muslim world began celebrating the holy month last week but, activists say, ethnic Uighurs in the western province are being stopped from fully participating in the festivities after violent clashes in the region in June left more than 37 people dead. The government imposed a major security clampdown on the region after the violence, the worst since large-scale unrest in 2009, that killed more than 200 across the province.

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According to Ilham Tohti, a Uighur academic at Minzu University of China in Beijing, Uighur families are being increasingly monitored by security forces and threatened with arrest for congregating in mosques or homes during Ramadan.

“The government’s restriction on religion is getting stricter,” said Mr Tohti. “For example, they have many regulations, cadres and students cannot go to mosques or chant scriptures”.

Uighurs attending or working in schools and universities are being told they cannot fast during Ramadan, according to Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The region, which holds a significant portion of the country’s oil, gas and mineral reserves, has seen frequent violent unrest in recent years. Beijing claims the attacks are being carried out by radical Islamist terrorists.
Yu Zhengsheng, one of the seven members of the Communist party’s Politburo Standing Committee, was quoted by Chinese state media as saying the Chinese government intended to “step up efforts to crack down on terrorist groups and extremist organisations while tracking down those wanted for [the] crimes”.

Government-encouraged migration of Han Chinese to the region has helped fuel the ethnic tensions in the region, activists say.
According to Human Rights Watch, Beijing is using the month of Ramadan as a loyalty test to the Communist party.

“The Chinese state profoundly distrusts the Uighur,” said Mr Bequelin, “including Uighur party members. [So] Ramadan becomes a test of how loyal to the party a person is.”

According to Mr Bequelin religious observance in Xinjiang by the Uighur is seen “akin to religious extremism” by the government and that other Muslim minorities in the western province face less restrictions.
In contrast, Muslims in other parts of China are free to practice their religion without interference from the authorities.

Mr Tohti, who has been detained numerous times because of his outspoken views, believes the increased restrictions on religious practices could backfire and further radicalise more Uighurs adding to the insecurity in the region.

“I think [the] Uighur are recognising more of their own ethnic identity,” he said. “Religion is growing stronger with more repression.
“So I don’t think [the] Chinese government’s crackdown in Xinjiang would make Uighurs give up their religion, and the religion is likely to get stronger.”

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