Ban on Muslims fasting in China, house-to-house surveillance is going on

• March 24, 2023

On one hand, Muslims around the world are preparing to start the month of Ramadan, on the other hand, Muslims in China are facing restrictions on fasting. According to media reports, Xi Jinping's government has banned the fasting of Uyghur Muslims in China's northwestern Xinjiang province.

Muslim families in the area are being interrogated by authorities to see if anyone is fasting, and local officials are even going door-to-door to observe, according to local human rights groups.

World Uyghur Congress spokesperson Dilshat Rishit said authorities have launched a round-the-clock monitoring system during Ramadan in 1,811 villages of Xinjiang province, including door-to-door visits to Uyghur families. According to Muslim customs, fasting is done during daylight hours. And surveillance is going on mainly during the day.

About 11.4 million Muslims live in China. But due to the strictness of the Communist Party, their cultural and religious traditions are under threat. Allegations are being raised that the communist government is systematically trying to wipe out their religious traditions. Chinese human rights groups, including the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), have accused Beijing of forcing them to conform to communist norms. According to a report by CHRD, the freedom of religious worship that people have enjoyed in China for a long time is under pressure after the re-election of President Xi Jinping. The organization claimed that not only Muslims but also Christians and Buddhists in China are being forced to conform to communist ideology by applying 'censorship' on their religious practices.

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