Red Chinas Fear of Islam In the preceding section we saw how East Turkestan is of great strategic and economic importance for China. Yet the frequent arrests of devout Muslims in East Turkestan, not allowing them to live in accordance with their religion, and the pressure put on their religious leaders, make it clear that there is more to their policy of oppression. First and foremost, it means that Red China is greatly concerned by the presence of Islam in East Turkestan. Although the roots of the Chinese attacks on Islam and Muslims go far back in history, these policies were changed into a systematic policy of oppression, and even genocide, with the establishment of the communist regime. When Mao founded the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, all manifestations of Islam were made targets. This hostility towards Islam began with the closure of mosques, religious schools and other institutions providing religious education. The situation worsened after portraits of Chairman Mao were hung in the now empty places of worship (and Muslims were forced to show their respect for such images). Some 29,000 mosques were closed during that period.13 The following stage consisted of the arrest of religious leaders on groundless and baseless charges and accusations. Some of these were condemned to death, and more than 54,000 religious figures were condemned to work in the most terrible conditions in Chinese labor camps.14 Throughout that period, physical and mental torture was inflicted on men of faith. Some Muslims were rounded up into public squares and made to confess the so-called divinity of Chairman Mao (surely Allah is beyond that). The people were forced to carry out practices in flagrant violation of Islamic ideas, such as cremation of the dead. The closed mosques were used as military depots and barracks, or as places of entertainment (such as theatres and cinemas). All forms of public worship, including Friday and other prayers, were prohibited and heavy taxes were imposed on those Muslims who continued to pray in the few remaining mosques. The communist administration confiscated the alms given for the maintenance and restoration of the mosques and all the property belonging to religious leaders. Studying and teaching the Quran were completely banned. Religious works were seized from peoples homes. Writings in Arabic were burned, including a large number of historical handwritten texts.15 Modern Chinese oppression of the Muslims in East Turkestan is felt most heavily in the field of religion. As in all communist regimes, hostility to religion is part of the official state policy of Red China. A document called The Basic Viewpoint and Policy on [the] Religious Question During Our Countrys Socialist Period, circulated internally through party channels throughout China in 1982 by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, openly states that fact: In human history, religion will ultimately disappear... All religious organizations in China will bow their heads to the leadership of the party and the government … The true aim of religious schools is to produce professional religious officials who support the party administration and the socialist system … These religious officials must remain loyal to the partys policy on religion … The fundamental purpose of religious bodies is to play an important role in spreading the countrys political influence.16 A speech by Ali Jing Jiang, a member of the Peoples Republic of China Islamic Community, at the 5th meeting of the Islamic Society of North America in the USA on September 1, 1986, shows just how fully the Red Chinese administration has put into effect the decisions set out in that declaration. In his speech, Ali Jing Jiang stated that in China it is legally forbidden to give any religious education, either at home or at school, to minors under the age of 18. Although some religious schools have been opened as the result of pressure from Islamic countries, there are more Marxist, Leninist and Maoist ideas taught in them than Islam. Jiang expressed that all the teachers in such schools are communists and atheists and young people are being raised with no knowledge of religion. In other schools, he said, religion is taught as if it were something that needed to be forgotten, a primitive belief belonging to the lowest levels of Chinese society. That situation has rapidly begun to distance young people from religious belief. He also added that the government keeps a tight rein on Muslims activities and that the communists are using Islam merely as a tool with which to improve relations with Muslim nations.17 The anti-religious pronunciations of the Chinese Communist Party are not new. Allah reveals in the Quran that the deniers who opposed the Prophet Noah, peace be upon him, attempted to belittle the believers with the words, …We do not see you as anything but a human being like ourselves. We do not see anyone following you but the lowest of us, unthinkingly… (Surah Hud: 27). In another verse, Allah describes how deniers believe themselves to be terribly clever: When they are told, Believe in the way that the people believe, they say, What! Are we to believe in the way that fools believe? No indeed! They are the fools, but they do not know it. (Surat al-Baqara: 13) The Chinese Communist Partys attempts to portray religious devotion as a primitive belief belonging to the very lowest levels of Chinese society, is an example of this foolishness. While the Communist Party uses such propaganda methods, it also at the same time steps up its oppression of Muslims. Following the initiatives demanding independence in the 1990s, (the Baren uprising, the Gulja uprising) the oppression of Muslims was stepped up even further. The way these uprisings spread to the whole of East Turkestan, and the fact that Turks in public posts also supported the demands for independence, greatly alarmed Red China. It initiated another ruthless campaign against those Muslims who had backed independence movements. Hundreds of thousands of people were detained, thousands executed and tens of thousands were sent to labor camps. Michael Winchester, one of the rare journalists able to enter the region and send out a secret report about the oppression of Muslims, had this to say in an article titled Inside Story China: Beijing vs. Islam: Since then they have closed down unregistered mosques; forbidden the use of loud-speakers outside registered ones; banned Quranic classes for children and youths; prohibited foreign money for religious purposes; tightened exit requirements; imposed an age restriction on haj pilgrims; outlawed unauthorized religious publications; and cracked down on Communist party members visiting mosques.18 One Turkestan resident interviewed by Winchester (who refused to give his real name) said that since he worked in a state office he was never able to go to the mosque, and that he would be sacked if he were to be seen doing so. The reason was the increased Chinese hostility to Islam which began at the end of the 1980s. A 1997 article in the official East Turkestan newspaper, the Xinjiang Daily, set out what party members view of religion should be: Those party members firmly believe in religion and who refuse to change their ways after education should be given a certain period to make corrections, be persuaded to withdraw from the party or dismissed from the party according to the seriousness of their case. In recent years, 98 religious party members have been dealt with.19 In East Turkestan, those who are caught praying or studying the Quran are punished, particularly if they are aged under 18, because Chinese law explicitly prohibits minors from studying the Quran. In 1999, for example, five 12-year-olds were arrested for reading the Quran. When one of them fled from the police station, his family were arrested and tortured by the police (and told that they would not be released until he gave himself up).20 That incident is just one of the many frequently encountered in East Turkestan. Thousands of people have been detained and tortured simply for living in accordance with their religion, or for teaching other people who want to do so. The accusations made against religious figures who have been detained are particularly noteworthy. For instance, on October 28, 1999, Memet Eli, the imam of the Oybagh Mosque in Hotan, was arrested and heavily fined for teaching religion contrary to the Communist Party policy. This is how his crimes were set out in the indictment: During his duty as an Imam, Memet Ali did not study, teach and implement Communist Partys regulations on religion. He pretended he did not see the instructions of department of religious supervision. When related departments organized study and educational activities for religious personals, he did not attend… He allowed people with unclear identity to stay at the Mosque…21 Other articles, as well as failure to give instruction in communist teachings (under which six other imams in Hotan were arrested on similar pretexts) are striking examples of the oppression faced by Muslims in Red China: They said in their prayers: Allah rescue your Muslim believers from the oppression of atheists. They did not stop people when they came to pray from other neighborhoods. They exceeded the 20 minutes time limit for Friday prayer and teachings. They failed to inform the authorities of people who came to get religious education.22
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 14:31:22 +0000
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