Chinese Hui Muslims protest mosque demolition in Weizhou

[third eye]

The grand mosque in remote northern China was slated to be demolished, according to local officials who said it had not been granted proper permits. A rare protest has been held to save the building.

Local sources said a sit-in protest by hundreds of ethnic Hui Muslims took place on Friday to defend the huge new mosque, which was built last year in the northern region of Ningxia.

Protests are rare in China, and news of demonstrations are difficult to verify. Most reports come via unverified social media.

Weizhou officials last week gave the mosque management a deadline of Friday to demolish the building, as they said it had not received the proper permits before it was built. Otherwise it would be forcibly taken down.

A government proposal to replace the mosque's nine Middle Eastern-style domes and four towering minarets with Chinese-style pagodas was apparently rejected by mosque representatives.

The English-language South China Morning Post reported on Friday that local authorities had agreed to delay the demolition until a reconstruction plan could be agreed with the mosque representatives.

The Hui Muslim community questioned why, if the necessary paperwork was absent, the two-year construction project had not been halted.

Sinicization of religion

While China guarantees freedom of religion, concerns over possible radicalization in Muslim areas has led to stricter controls on Islamic communities since 2015 under the Sinicization of religion. This aims to bring religious groups into line with Chinese culture and under the authority of the ruling Communist Party.

Measures have included a ban on religious education for young people in mosques, a silencing of the call to prayer over loudspeakers and eradication of Arab elements in mosques.

Targeting the Hui?

The Hui Muslims are largely integrated into the local Chinese, Han community. Most of them speak Mandarin, and the only sign of a difference is shown in the white caps and headscarves worn by some traditional Hui Muslims.

But in recent months, controls over the Hui Muslims appear to have been increased as the central government targets another Muslim group, the Uighurs who live in the far western region of Xinjiang and have a far more distinctive and visible culture.

Soldiers have patrolled Uighur neighborhoods for years

The 11-million-strong Uighur population have found themselves subject to increased surveillance with checkpoints, security cameras, and armed patrols controlling their movements. Thousands of religious buildings have been destroyed.

There have been reports of secretive, re-education centers where the human rights group Chinese Human Rights Defenders say Uighur have been detained or forced to attend education sessions.

"Our findings show that, in the villages of Southern Xinjiang, about 660,000 rural residents of ethnic Uyghur background may have been taken away from their homes and detained in re-education camps, while another up to 1.3 million may have been forced to attend mandatory day or evening re-education sessions."

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is to review China's implementation of its international convention on Friday.

https://www.dw.com/en/chinese-hui-muslims-protest-mosque-demolition-in-weizhou/a-45031577

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Propaganda.

 

[third eye]

Propaganda.

Default response ?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/pol...chinese-hui-muslims-weizhou-grand-mosque-goes

Protest by Chinese Hui Muslims at Weizhou Grand Mosque goes on as sides seek compromise


Thousands of ethnic Hui Muslims extended their protest at a new mosque in northwest China into Friday night, after the local government halted its plan to demolish the building but insisted on remodelling it to make it less Arabic in style.

The gathering at the Weizhou Grand Mosque, which started on Thursday, is by far the most daring resistance in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region against a sweeping government push to “Sinicise Islam”.

At Friday prayer – the most important service of the week – the two floors of the prayer hall were filled with thousands of worshippers. Many had come from outside Weizhou – and some from outside Ningxia – to show their support for the local community, according to two people who attended the service.

Led by the imam, the congregation prayed for Allah to “solidify our faith and protect the mosque”, one said.

After Islamic icons and Arabic signs were removed from secular buildings across the region, the campaign has increasingly targeted religious buildings. The domes of several smaller mosques have been removed in recent months

The Weizhou town government in Tongxin county had originally demanded that the mosque, which was completed only last year, be torn down by Friday, saying it had not been granted the necessary planning and construction permits.

The order sparked a huge uproar, and prompted officials to change the demolition order to a “rectification plan”.



The first version of that plan called for the mosque’s “Arab style” domes to be replaced with traditional Chinese-style pagodas, but was swiftly rejected by worshippers. The government then asked the mosque’s management committee to remove eight of the nine domes that top the mosque, leaving the largest one in the centre.

That, too, was deemed unacceptable by most members of the community.

“After taking down the domes, the mosque can no longer be an icon of Islam,” said a local man who declined to give his name. “Changing it to a traditional Chinese style is as incongruous as putting the mouth of a horse on the head of an ox.”

As of Friday night, the two sides had yet to reach a compromise.

For decades the Hui people have enjoyed relative freedom to practice their faith. But the government’s heavy-handed crackdown on Islam in Xinjiang – the heartland of the mostly Muslim Uygur ethnic group – has recently spilled over into Hui strongholds, including Gansu province, which borders Xinjiang, and Ningxia.

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The new mosque replaced an earlier one that, in turn, had been built to replace Weizhou’s 600-year-old Chinese-style mosque, which was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution along with thousands of other temples, churches and monasteries across the country.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Default response ?

To a default post. You get default response.

The first version of that plan called for the mosque’s “Arab style” domes to be replaced with traditional Chinese-style pagodas

What is wrong with that? Arabtoxification needs a antidote. I would think you would support that?

 

[Dalai Lama]

I support the "sinicization" of religion. The Chinese approach of quelling jihad and concurrent separatist sentiment is tactful yet firm. Culture trumps religion. End of story.

Pakistani PDFers should remain quiet or China might cancel CPEC.

 

[Jf Thunder]

why build it without proper permits?
it should be demolished if it was without proper documents
some idiots built a masjid on half of the children's play ground in our neighborhood
when no one protested, they encroached the other half as well

 

[Tristar]

why build it without proper permits?
it should be demolished if it was without proper documents
some idiots built a masjid on half of the children's play ground in our neighborhood
when no one protested, they encroached the other half as well

if happens in India , u ppl start jumping , isnt?

 

[Mamluk]

if happens in India , u ppl start jumping , isnt?

Babri is your own problem. Not many Pakistanis care.

 

[Jf Thunder]

if happens in India , u ppl start jumping , isnt?

nope

 

[Peaceful Civilian]

why build it without proper permits?
it should be demolished if it was without proper documents
some idiots built a masjid on half of the children's play ground in our neighborhood
when no one protested, they encroached the other half as well

Because they believes this is Allah land and they can make masjid without permit. I think china should handle them with iron hand . Nobody will come to save them for this illegal work.

 

[Jf Thunder]

Because they believes this is Allah land and they can make masjid without permit. I think china should handle them with iron hand . Nobody will come to save them for this illegal work.

indeed
they think every land is theirs to claim
I fail to find something like this even during the Rashidun Caliphate

 

[Jlaw]

Because they believes this is Allah land and they can make masjid without permit. I think china should handle them with iron hand . Nobody will come to save them for this illegal work.

Though Hui Muslim ethnic Chinese but religion of any kind can turn people stupid at times

 

[khansaheeb]

I support the "sinicization" of religion. The Chinese approach of quelling jihad and concurrent separatist sentiment is tactful yet firm. Culture trumps religion. End of story.

Pakistani PDFers should remain quiet or China might cancel CPEC.

So you mean more pis$ drinking in India? - "Culture trumps religion."

 

[Place Of Space]

Demolition the building is a huge money waste. How about changing it as aka a public library? The poor local needs more skills and technology from books.

 

[Jlaw]

Demolition the building is a huge money waste. How about changing it as aka a public library? The poor local needs more skills and technology from books.

Good idea but who knows if those religious idiots will allow it. The only book they read is the you know what and learn nothing much for skills