World News | China bans Uyghurs from praying in mosques during Eid: report

Beijing [China]April 29 (ANI): According to residents and police, Chinese authorities have banned most Uyghurs from praying in mosques and even at home during Eid al-Fitr in many parts of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported.

During this year’s Eid al-Fitr, which runs from April 20-21, people aged 60 and over are allowed to pray at a local mosque under heavy police surveillance, the sources said.

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Since 2017, China has restricted or banned the ethnic customs and religious ceremonies of the predominantly Muslim Uighurs, in what they say is an effort to stamp out “religious extremism.”

According to Radio Free Asia, authorities in Xinjiang patrol city streets and search houses during Eid al-Fitr to prevent people from praying in secret at home, according to sources.

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An administrator in the town of Yarkovluk in the Aksu region said a mosque there was open for Eid prayers.

“Our police go to mosques to see people. I don’t know if people need permission to go to mosques because I didn’t go there,” the employee said.

A police officer from the local police station said that there is only one mosque open for Eid al-Fitr worship in Bulong Township, Pai County, but only elderly people over 60 years old are willing to pray.

The official said the government issued a notice that people under the age of 60 cannot pray on Eid al-Fitr.

According to a Radio Free Asia report, a police officer from the town’s police station said that there were only a dozen Uyghur elders attending the Eid al-Fitr prayers at the mosque in Bulong, and three police officers and several auxiliary police officers observed and recorded the names of the Uyghurs.

“The mosque opened yesterday and we went there to monitor people,” the policeman said, adding that he told residents under the age of 60 not to go to the mosque.

A woman in a residential area in Malarbesi County, Kashgar prefecture, said that none of her neighbors or relatives held Eid prayers or celebrations.

“The mosque is not open,” she told Radio Free Asia. “My husband is a policeman and he works on Eid. There are no Eid prayers here and it is quiet.” (Ani)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)