State of resentment

For the oasis city of Hotan in China's far northwest, the night now brings fear instead of the usual respite from the desert heat.

For thousands of years the settlement was a stop along the Silk Road trading route between Asia and Europe, famed for its jade. On March 23, more than 1,000 residents of the once-peaceful oasis rose up in protest against Chinese rule, confronting armed security forces.

More than a month after the incident, the reasons for the clash remain unclear. Residents say a few people with protest signs gathered near the main mosque and urged others to join them. Among their grievances was the alleged death in police custody of a prominent businessman and restrictions on Muslim women wearing head scarves.

'They oppose our religion,' said long-time resident Omar, claiming that the government had arrested thousands and shut several religious schools following the incident. His allegations could not be confirmed.

'They' are the Chinese, the political rulers of the Xinjiang region. The unspoken 'us' are members of the Uygur ethnic group, who practise Islam, speak a Turkic language and trace their ancestry to Indo-Europeans.

Coming days after protests by Tibetans in Lhasa turned violent on March 14, the central government deemed the Hotan demonstration to be an attempt to overthrow the state. The local government said the incident occurred 'under the flag of separatism'.

'During the day, it is like this - peaceful,' said Omar, as he waved his hand at the bustling bazaar that fills the streets near the city's biggest mosque every Sunday. 'At night, they arrest people.'