Do you approve, Billy? Sent from my iPhone
> On Sep 30, 2017, at 23:36, BILROJ via Centroids: The Center of the Radical > Centrist Community <[email protected]> wrote: > > from: Geller Reports > > > CHINESE POLICE ORDER XINJIANG’S MUSLIMS TO HAND IN ALL COPIES OF THE QURAN > RFA Mandarin Service, September 27, 2017: > > AFP: Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have ordered > ethnic minority Muslim families to hand in religious items including prayer > mats and copies of the Quran to the authorities, RFA has learned. > > Officials across Xinjiang have been warning neighborhoods and mosques that > ethnic minority Uyghur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz Muslims must hand in the items or > face harsh punishment if they are found later, sources in the region said. > > “Officials at village, township and county level are confiscating all Qurans > and the special mats used for namaaz [prayer],” a Kazakh source in Altay > prefecture, near the border with Kazakhstan told RFA on Wednesday. > > “Pretty much every household has a Quran, and prayer mats,” he said. > > Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile World Uyghur Congress group, said > reports have emerged from Kashgar, Hotan and other regions of similar > practices starting last week. > “We received a notification saying that every single ethnic Uyghur must hand > in any Islam-related items from their own home, including Qurans, prayers and > anything else bearing the symbols of religion,” Raxit said. > > “They have to be handed in voluntarily. If they aren’t handed in, and they > are found, then there will be harsh punishments,” he said. > > Raxit said announcements are being made by the police via popular social > media platform WeChat. > > “All Qurans and related items must be handed into the authorities, and there > are notices to this effect being broadcast via WeChat,” Raxit said. > > “The announcements say that people must hand in any prayer mats of their own > accord to the authorities, as well as any religious reading matter, including > anything with the Islamic moon and star symbol on it,” he said. > > “They are requiring people to hand in these items of their own accord,” he > said. > > ‘Three Illegals’ > Earlier this year, Xinjiang authorities began confiscating all Qurans > published more than five years ago due to “extremist content,” according to > local officials, amid an ongoing campaign against “illegal” religious items > owned by mostly Muslim ethnic Uyghur residents. > The Qurans were appropriated as part of the “Three Illegals and One Item” > campaign underway in Xinjiang that bans “illegal” publicity materials, > religious activities, and religious teaching, as well as items deemed by > authorities to be tools of terrorism—including knives, flammable objects, > remote-controlled toys, and objects sporting symbols related to Islam, they > said. > > The Kazakh source said that earlier directives calling for the confiscation > of Qurans and other religious items hadn’t been effective, and so the > authorities are now stepping up the pressure and placing the onus on > individual households to hand them in under a compulsory program. > > He said confiscation drives targeting Uyghurs are now also being extended to > the country’s ethnic Kazakh population. > > At the same time, any products from neighboring Kazakhstan or bearing the > Kazakh language or symbols have also been outlawed, sources said. > > A leaked police notice from Changji prefecture called on local officials to > search for any items bearing any writing or symbols linked to Kazakhstan. > > “Any items bearing writing or any other traces of Kazakhstan, including > street signs or graffiti, store decorations, arts and crafts items, T-shirts > and so on, must immediately be investigated … and a detailed report made to > higher authorities by Sept. 25,” the notice, dated Sept. 22, it said. > > Products from Kazakhstan > A second Kazakh source said authorities are also searching for and > confiscating any products brought from Kazakhstan. > > “There are restrictions on the sale of any products and foodstuffs from > Kazakhstan, including noodles, organic products and mare’s milk spirit,” the > source said. “They won’t let you sell things brought over from Kazakhstan.” > An official who answered the phone at the Altay police department on > Wednesday hung up when asked to comment on the reports. > > Chinese authorities have lately issued orders for ethnic Kazakh Chinese > nationals to hand in their passports and Kazakh green cards in some parts of > Xinjiang, and have reportedly detained dozens of Kazakhs returning from > overseas study or family visits to Kazakhstan, sending them for indefinite > terms in “re-education” facilities, sources have told RFA. > Official figures show that there are around 1.5 million Kazakhs in China, > mostly concentrated in and around the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture close > to the Kazakhstan border. > > China has previously welcomed Kazakhs who wished to relocate from Kazakhstan, > with their numbers peaking at nearly 38,000 in 2006. But now many Kazakhs > with Chinese nationality are heading back in the other direction. > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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