Chinese Imams Forced to Dance

Tuesday, 10 February 2015 00:00

Imams were forced to brandish the slogan that

"our income comes from the CKP not from Allah".

URUMQI – In another crackdown on religious

freedoms, China has forced the imams of eastern

Muslim majority district of Xinjiang to dance in

the street, and swear to an oath that they will not

teach religion to children as well telling them that

prayer is harmful to the soul.

During the incident, reported by World Bulletin on

Monday, February 9, Muslim imams were forced

to brandish the slogan that "our income comes

from the CKP not from Allah".

State Chinese news said the imams were

gathering in a square in the name of civilization

where they were forced to dance and chant out

slogans in support of the state.

The slogans included statements glorifying the

state over religion such as 'peace of the country

gives peace to the soul’.

They also gave speeches telling youth to stay

away from mosques, and that the prayer was

harmful to their health, encouraging them to

dance instead.

Female teachers were instructed to teach children

to stay away from religious education and made

to swear an oath that they will keep children

away from religion.

Uighur Muslims are a Turkish-speaking minority

of eight million in the northwestern Xinjiang

region.

Xinjiang , which activists call East Turkestan, has

been autonomous since 1955 but continues to be

the subject of massive security crackdowns by

Chinese authorities.

Rights groups accuse Chinese authorities of

religious repression against Uighur Muslims in

Xinjiang in the name of counter terrorism.

Last November, Xinjiang banned the practicing of

religion in government buildings, as well as

wearing clothes or logos associated with religious

extremism.

In August, the northern Xinjiang city of Karamay

prohibited young men with beards and women in

burqas or hijabs from boarding public buses.

Earlier in July, China banned students and

government staff from observing Ramadan

fasting, as officials tried to encourage locals in

Xinjiang not to wear Islamic veils.

Source www.onislam.net/english/news/asia-pacific/482889-chinese-imams-forced-to-dance.html