Civil servants, students, teachers in China's Xinjiang banned from fasting during Ramadan
The authorities blame religious extremism for a spate of violent attacks in the region. Rights activists say the government is repressing the area's Muslim culture and religion
China has banned civil servants, students and teachers in its mainly Muslim Xinjiang region from fasting during Ramadan and ordered restaurants to stay open, official websites showed as the holy month began on Thursday.
Most Muslims are required to fast from dawn to dusk during the month, but China’s ruling Communist Party is officially atheist and for years has restricted the practice in Xinjiang, home to the mostly Muslim Uygur minority.
“Food service workplaces will operate normal hours during Ramadan,” said a notice posted last week on the website of the state Food and Drug Administration in Xinjiang’s Jinghe county.
Officials in the region’s Bole county were told: “During Ramadan do not engage in fasting, vigils or other religious activities,” according to a local government website report of a meeting this week.
Uygur rights groups say government restrictions on Islam in Xinjiang have added to ethnic tensions in the region, where clashes have killed hundreds in recent years. Beijing says it faces a terrorist threat in Xinjiang, with officials blaming religious extremism for growing violence.
“Policies that prohibit religious fasting are a provocation and will only lead to instability and conflict,” said Dilxat Rexit, a spokesman for the exiled World Uygur Congress.
Going one step beyond simply discouraging government employees to forgo fasting, police and court officials in Awat county were ordered to “take the lead in teaching family members not to fast and not to participate in Ramadan-related religious activities”, according to a post on China Legal Media.