China is facing flak over its treatment of minorities in Xinjiang province. The minority mainly consists of followers of Islam. The nations around the world are shocked to see the mistreatment of people in China. Reports coming out show forced sterilization and detention in camps of Uyghur Muslims in China.
Clampdown on Minority
The government of China is reported to have put many people in detention camps and “Re-educating” the people of the minority community. Shockingly, apart from causing trouble in lives of people the Chinese government is also taking down signs of Islamic traditions from the area. Also, in an attempt to hide its actions, reporters are not given full access to the areas in question. People in plain cloth restrict reporters from filming and talking to the local population.
The Jaman mosque in the city of Qira seems to be completely hidden behind high walls and Communist Party propaganda signs. These very efficiently hides the evidence of the presence of a religious site. The region is no doubt the Xinjiang province in China. Also, the city is riddled with closed-circuit cameras to keep close surveillance in the area.
Satellite images in 2019, showed Minarets on the building’s four corners. But the reality now seems different, all the minarets are nowhere to be found. Instead, a large blue metal box stands at the place where the mosque’s central dome had once been.
Erasing Every hint of Islamic Presence
The Chinese government has increased its effort to remove the trace of Uyghur presence from Xinjiang. At several mosques, Islamic architecture now stands replaced with Chinese-style roofing. According to publicly available satellite images of Changji’s Tianchi road mosque, its gold dome and minarets were removed in 2018.
Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry keeps on denying allegations of minority persecution. It also goes on to say that the stories coming out of Western Sources is outright false and repulsive. Although the ministry accepts some mosques had been demolished, and others had been upgraded and expanded as part of “rural revitalization.”
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