Officials in China's turbulent north-western region of Xinjiang are tightening restrictions on Muslim practices including mass prayers during Ramadan, according to government notices.
Government employees and Communist party members are banned from
fasting, wearing veils or growing beards, said circulars posted on several official websites. Other measures - which appear to vary area to area - include forcing restaurants to maintain their usual opening hours instead of shifting them in light of dawn-to-dusk fasting.
Religious controls are usually stricter during Ramadan but experts say this year's are noticeably stronger and believe it is the first time they have been published rather than passed on orally.
A notice on the Zhaosu county website said that ideological education had to be stepped up in the face of "violent and disruptive activities by religious extremists, separatists and terrorists".
Last month saw the worst violence for a decade with a string of fatal attacks including an assault on police in Kashgar that left 16 officers dead and 16 wounded. No one has claimed responsibility but officials have blamed Uighur separatists.
Two of the towns that posted notices, Xinhe and Shaya, are near Kuqa, where 11 people died in suicide bombings and police shootings a few days later.
Around half the population of the vast region of Xinjiang is composed of Muslim Uighurs.
Many resent the religious and cultural restrictions placed upon them and some seek an independent East Turkestan.
A note on the Shaya government website said propaganda and inspections should be stepped up during the period.
"Fasting and participation in religious activities by party members and students is forbidden," it said.
The note called for stronger security at mosques, saying that officials should "prohibit playing recordings, videos or using loudspeakers to force people to take part in fasting. Work units or individuals are not allowed to hand out religious propaganda in public areas."
It said people were forbidden from forcing others to fast, attend religious activities or cover their face with veils. "Effective measures" should be taken to ensure people who already had beards and veils removed them, the note said, although it appears it may have been referring to officials and public sector workers.
A Zhaosu county website notice said officials should "try to reduce Ramadan's influence on society as much as possible".
It told them to "dissuade people from attending organised and planned worship in large groups in order to prevent mass incidents; prevent, guide and stop situations like closing restaurants during Ramadan, students attending religious activities, women going into mosques with veils and shops stopping selling wines and cigarettes".
"To the best of my knowledge it's the first time this has been explicitly spelled out in this way - normally these instructions are not put in writing," said Nicholas Bequelin, an expert on Xinjiang at Human Rights Watch. Measures such as the restrictions on restaurants were "definitely more intrusive than before," he said.
"What has been driving these increasingly invasive restrictions on religious and cultural behaviour is the fear that Uighurs are not loyal to the party and government," Bequelin said. "It used to be the case that some cadres in the 80s and early 90s were clearly religious. That's not possible any more because the state sees what it regards as ostentatious religiosity as an act of defiance towards the government."
China officials tighten restrictions on Muslim practices | World news | theguardian.com
China bans Muslims from fasting during Holy Ramadan
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