Muslim children in Chinese county banned from attending religious events over break
Youngsters also prohibited from reading scriptures in classes or in religious buildings, district education bureau says
Education authorities in a mostly Muslim county in northwestern China have banned schoolchildren from attending religious events over a winter break, as authorities step up control of religious education.
Pupils in Linxia county in Gansu province, home to many members of the Muslim Hui ethnic minority, are prohibited from entering religious buildings over their break, a district education bureau said in a notice published online.
They must also not read scriptures in classes or in religious buildings, the bureau said, adding that all pupils and teachers should heed the notice and work to strengthen political ideology and propaganda.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the notice.
A man who answered the telephone at the Linxia education bureau hung up when Reuters asked about the notice. A woman at the district education bureau declined to comment on the document’s authenticity.
Xi Wuyi, a Marxist scholar at the state-backed Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an outspoken critic of rising Islamic influence in China welcomed the apparent move by the authorities.