The Chinese Government has banned teachers, students and all civil servants in its densely Muslim populated Xinjiang region from observing fast during Ramadan and has ordered restaurants to stay open.
Muslims all over the world are expected to fast from dawn till dusk during the holy month, which started on Thursday, June 18, 2015 but China’s ruling Communist party is officially atheist and for years has never allowed the practice in Xinjang which is the residence for mostly Muslim Ulghur minority.
“Food service workplaces will operate normal hours during Ramadan,” a notice posted earlier on the website of the state’s Food and Drug Administration in Xinjang’s Jinghe county.
The Chinese government in clear terms stated to the officials in the region’s Bole county that, “During Ramadan do not engage in fasting, vigils or other religious activities,”
Every year, the authorities attempt to ban fasting among Ulghur Muslims in Xinjang, it receives widespread criticism from various civil rights groups.
The Ulghur rights groups debunked China’s restrictions on islam in Xijang, stating that it has added to ethnic tensions within the region where clashes have killed in recent years, in numerable hundreds.
China mentioned that a “terrorist treat” in stares Xinjang, with officials mounting blames on “religious extremism” for the rising conflict
A spokesperson for the exiled World Uyghur Congress, stated that “China’s goal in prohibiting fasting is to forcibly move Ulghurs away from their Muslim culture during Ramadan..
“policies that prohibit religious fasting is a provocation and will only lead to instability and conflict.”
In the previous years , school pupils were prohibited from Ramadan fasting and other religious observances.
The Education Bureau of Tarbaghatay city, also called “Tacheng” in Chinese dialect, this month ordered learning institutions to intimate to students that “During Ramadan , ethnic minority srudents do not fast, do not enter mosques… and do not attend religious activities.”
