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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| China discourages Uighur Muslims from fasting |
| 2012-08-04 |
| BEIJING: China is discouraging some Muslims in the far western region of Xinjiang from fasting during Ramadan. The government says the move is motivated by health concerns, but others said yesterday that it’s a risky campaign to secularize the Muslim minority. Several city, county and village governments in Xinjiang have posted notices on their websites banning or discouraging Communist Party members, civil servants, students and teachers from fasting during the religious holiday. Muslims around the world abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk during the 30-day period. Regional spokeswoman Hou Hanmin was quoted in the state-run Global Times newspaper yesterday as saying authorities encourage people to “eat properly for study and work” but don’t force anyone to eat during Ramadan. Xinjiang is home to the traditionally Muslim Uighur ethnic group. Long-simmering resentment among Uighurs over rule by China’s Han majority and an influx of migrants has sporadically erupted into violence. Separatist sentiment is rife, with some Uighurs advocating armed rebellion. A smaller fringe has been radicalized by militant calls for Muslim holy war and trained in camps across the border in Afghanistan and Pakistan. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Chairman Mao said that religion is poison. I think it depends on the religion...and I think Chairman Mao was a mass murdering, thieving, commie bastard. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2012-08-04 19:34 |