Muslims worried curbs in Gansu province will lead to more sweeping restrictions on religion already enforced in China’s restive Xinjiang region
For some in China’s ethnic Hui Muslim minority, a ban on young people engaging in religious education in mosques is an unwelcome interference in how they lead their lives.
Their big fear is the Chinese government may be bringing in measures in this northwestern province of Gansu that are similar to some of those used in the crackdown on Uygur Muslims in the giant Xinjiang region further to the west.
Well-integrated into society and accustomed to decades of smooth relations with the government, many Hui have watched with detachment as the authorities have subjected Xinjiang to near-martial law, with armed police checkpoints, re-education centres and mass DNA collection.
But in January, education officials from the local government in Guanghe county, which is a heavily-Muslim area, banned children from attending religious education during the Lunar New Year break. That lasts for several weeks around the week-long public holiday period that started on Thursday.
It is unclear if the ban, similar to those used by the authorities in the Uygur communities, will continue after the holiday, but it appears to conform to new national regulations that took effect on February 1 aiming to increase oversight over religion.
Residents in the city of Linxia, the capital of Gansu’s so-called “autonomous” prefecture for the Hui people, about 50km (30 miles) to the west of Guanghe, said similar restrictions were in place there.
“We feel it is ridiculous and were astonished,” said Li Haiyang, a Hui imam from the eastern province of Henan who in a widely circulated online article denounced the policy as violating China’s constitution.
Why China’s Hui Mulslims fear they are the next to face crackdown on religion
Such bans had been conveyed verbally in recent years, Li said, but implementation was uneven and often ignored. The more forceful roll-out this year shows authorities are serious about enforcement, he said.
The Linxia prefecture government, which oversees Linxia city and Guanghe, did not provide details of the policy, but said China’s constitution required separation of religion and education.
