China forces imams of Xinjiang to dance in the street

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Wednesday 18 Feb 2015 - 11:45 Makkah mean time-29-4-1436 China forces imams of Xinjiang to dance in the street (Google image) Xinjiang, China (IINA) - In another crackdown on religious freedoms, China has forced the imams of eastern Muslim majority district of Xinjiang to dance in the street, and swear to an oath that they will not teach religion to children as well telling them that prayer is harmful to the soul, Online Islam reported siting World Bulletin news. The imams of the mosques (East Turkestan) have been forced to gather in a square dancing en masse. At the same time, they were forced to chant out slogans such as "peace of the country gives peace to the soul", World Bulletin news agency reported. State Chinese news have said that in the name of "civilization" the imams have been forced to dance in the town square. Many of the imams were forcibly given Chinese flags, the same demonstration also included university students. During the speeches, young people were told to stay away from mosques, and that the prayer was harmful and instead were encouraged to dance. Female teachers were instructed to teach children to stay away from religious education and made to swear an oath that they will keep children away from religion. Uighur Muslims are a Turkish-speaking minority of eight million in the northwestern Xinjiang region. Xinjiang, which activists call East Turkestan, has been autonomous since 1955 but continues to be the subject of massive security crackdowns by Chinese authorities. Rights groups accuse Chinese authorities of religious repression against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang in the name of counter terrorism. Last November, Xinjiang banned the practicing of religion in government buildings, as well as wearing clothes or logos associated with religious, Online Islam news reported. In addition, during August last year, the northern Xinjiang city of Karamay prohibited young men with beards and women in hijab from boarding public buses. SM/IINA