Elementary and middle school students in the region are being forced to abandon their religious belief.
Preceding the holy month of Ramadan in May this year, the head teacher at a school in Xinjiang’s Turpan issued a verbal directive for all Uyghur or Islamic imagery and text found with students to be torn and thrown away. Students were instructed to bring all their reading material to school for the inspection, which was done by their teachers.
A primary school student has disclosed that certain activities were also planned to prevent students from observing fasts during Ramadan. They were asked to bring food from their home every Friday to make sure that they had regular meals like their Han classmates. Other than that, teachers even made inspections or check-ins at the homes of Islamic or Uyghur students to make sure they were not fasting. All of this was discontinued after Ramadan.
Ever since the implementation of the new Regulations on Religious Affairs in February, young children in Xinjiang are being prohibited from practicing their religious faith. Both Muslim and Christian students are being told not to believe in God and learn about Xi Jinping’s policies instead. This is being done by hanging banners, holding meetings and issuing leaflets. Anyone found practicing religious faith even after this could face jail, as per the warnings issued.
A teacher who wished to remain anonymous said, “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) treats the schools as their bases for indoctrinating the next generation, so the children deny God right from the start. This is blatant indoctrination and a serious violation of human rights.”
Reported by Li Zaili
