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LETTERS
Beijing must explain report of 16,000 mosques destroyed
September 26, 2020 @ 12:43pm
(FILES) This file photo taken on June 4, 2019 shows the Jieleixi No.13 village mosque in Yangisar, south of Kashgar, in China's western Xinjiang region. - Chinese authorities have demolished thousands of mosques in Xinjiang, an Australian think tank said on September 25, 2020, in the latest report of widespread human rights abuses in the restive region. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
LETTERS: We are shocked by news that Chinese authorities have demolished thousands of mosques in Xinjiang, according to a recent report by an Australian think tank on human rights violations in the country.
According to the Australian Institute of Strategic Policy (ASPI), based on satellite images, at least 16,000 mosques have been destroyed or damaged by Chinese authorities in the troubled province.
This is a very serious act, and if it was carried out by Chinese authorities, then we strongly condemn this criminal act, which will incite the anger of Muslims around the world.
The report revealed that most of the destruction took place three years ago, with an estimated 8,500 mosques completely destroyed. According to the report, the biggest damage occurred in urban areas, such as Urumqi and Kashgar.
If this information is valid, we demand that China reveal what the rationale was for the mosques to be demolished.
There must be a special investigation by the OIC, and an international independent body established and given access to the area for a probe to be conducted.
Mosques that escaped complete demolishment had their domes or minarets destroyed, according to the report. This is also a very serious and objectionable criminal act. It should move the leaders of Islamic countries around the world to give a firm response.
There are now less than 15,500 mosques in Xinjiang – the lowest number since the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s.
The destruction of the mosque is an encroachment on the religion of Islam and tantamount to declaring war on the religion itself.
We are also shocked by reports that no such action was taken against Buddhist temples that are also found throughout Xinjiang.
According to ASPI, nearly a third of Islamic holy sites in Xinjiang, such as tombs, pilgrimage routes and cemeteries were also the targets of desecration.
In fact, an AFP survey last year reported the discovery of dozens of Muslim cemeteries destroyed, with fragments of corpses and tombstones laying scattered.
We take note of a statement by the authorities who insist that the people of Xinjiang are given full freedom to practice their respective religious practices.
This statement must be proven, because many of the victim's testimonies state that China's policy has oppressed Muslims' rights to practice their religion, including restricting access to religious education, forbidding fasting in Ramadan, and arranging forced marriages to non-Muslims.
Reports of more than a million Uyghur Muslims and Turkic-speaking minorities in southwest China being detained in hundreds of camps, as well as being forced to abandon all religious or cultural beliefs, also need to be investigated thoroughly.
We deplore the policy of "Sinisisation" by the Chinese government as a policy to change the characteristics and culture of Muslims so that everything follows the wishes of the Chinese communist system.
The Chinese cannot just deny the narrative revealed, while independent investigators are blocked from getting information from various victims who want to give their testimonies.
Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid
President of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations.
Mohd Azmi Abdul HamidBeijing DOES NOT RESPOND TO FAKE INDIAN NEWS and other Indian nonsense.