The authorities in Xinjiang, China have broaden their crackdown on minority Muslims in the region by confiscating the Quran, prayer mats and other Islamic paraphernalia.
Officials in the region have told the families and mosques that Uyghur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz Muslims must give up all these items or face punishment.
While the process has started in Xinjiang now, it has been reported that Kashgar, Hotan, and other regions have been witnessing this since last week. The authorities have reportedly been sending out notices through social media platform WeChat. The notices also say that apart from the Quran and prayer mats, people must also hand in any religious reading matter as well as things that have the “Islamic moon and star symbol on it.”
“We received a notification saying that every single ethnic Uyghur must hand in any Islam-related items from their own home, including Qurans, prayers and anything else bearing the symbols of religion,” noted Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile World Uyghur Congress group.
“They have to be handed in voluntarily. If they aren’t handed in, and they are found, then there will be harsh punishments,” he said. “They are requiring people to hand in these items of their own accord.”
Explaining the step, the Chinese officials have said that they were removing all the Qurans published in the last five years, as they featured extremist content. This is a part of China’s “Three Illegals and One Item” campaign, which bans numerous items owned by the Uyghurs.
While the ethnic group sees these items as religious, the authorities believe they are illegal. These include knives and flammable items remote-controlled toys, and objects with symbols related to Islam. The authorities, who believe that these items help promote terrorism, have also deemed religious activities and teaching as illegal.
In the year 2015, the nation invited ire when it forced officials in the Xinjiang region to swear that they will not fast during the holy month of Ramadan. State websites had reportedly been putting up notices asking officials and civil servants, and even students and teachers, not observe Ramadan.
In some regions, officials had even been asked to give oral and written assurances that they “have no faith, will not attend religious activities and will lead the way in not fasting over Ramadan,” Reuters reported citing state media.
