<div dir="ltr"><h1 style="font-family:BebasNeueRegular,sans-serif;font-size:48px;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px 0px 5px;vertical-align:baseline;clear:both;line-height:0.9em">Uighurs Condemn China Forcing Muslims to Eat Pork During Ramadan</h1><a class="gmail-addthis_button_facebook" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2019/05/19/uighurs-condemn-china-forcing-muslims-to-eat-pork-during-ramadan/#" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px 0px 5px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none;line-height:initial;display:block;width:124px;height:38px;float:left;border-right:9px solid rgb(255,255,255);overflow:hidden;background:rgb(58,88,156);padding:0px"><em style="font-family:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"></em><span class="gmail-acz5" style="font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:600;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:38px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;display:block;height:38px;color:rgb(255,255,255);text-align:right">1,141</span></a><a class="gmail-addthis_button_email gmail-at300b" href="http://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/email/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Fnational-security%2F2019%2F05%2F19%2Fuighurs-condemn-china-forcing-muslims-to-eat-pork-during-ramadan%2F&pubid=ra-536db77a775cf072&text=Uighurs%20Condemn%20China%20Forcing%20Muslims%20to%20Eat%20Pork%20During%20Ramadan" title="Email" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px 0px 5px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none;line-height:initial;float:left;width:124px;display:block;height:38px;border-right:9px solid rgb(255,255,255);overflow:hidden;background:rgb(63,62,61);padding:0px"></a><a class="gmail-addthis_button_reddit gmail-at300b" href="http://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/reddit/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Fnational-security%2F2019%2F05%2F19%2Fuighurs-condemn-china-forcing-muslims-to-eat-pork-during-ramadan%2F&pubid=ra-536db77a775cf072&text=Uighurs%20Condemn%20China%20Forcing%20Muslims%20to%20Eat%20Pork%20During%20Ramadan" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px 0px 5px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none;line-height:initial;float:left;width:124px;display:block;height:38px;border-right:9px solid rgb(255,255,255);overflow:hidden;background:rgb(214,34,34);padding:0px"></a><a class="gmail-addthis_button_twitter gmail-at300b" href="http://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/twitter/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Fnational-security%2F2019%2F05%2F19%2Fuighurs-condemn-china-forcing-muslims-to-eat-pork-during-ramadan%2F&pubid=ra-536db77a775cf072&title=Uighurs%20Condemn%20China%20Forcing%20Muslims%20to%20Eat%20Pork%20During%20Ramadan&via=BreitbartNews&shortener=bitly" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px 0px 5px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none;line-height:initial;float:left;width:124px;display:block;height:38px;border-right:none;overflow:hidden;background:rgb(21,188,236);padding:0px"></a><div class="gmail-atclear" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;clear:both"></div><img width="640" height="480" src="https://media.breitbart.com/media/2019/05/xinjiang-uighur-muslim-china-paramilitary-policemen-mosque-closed-640x480.png" class="gmail-wp-post-image" alt="Two ethnic Uighur women pass Chinese paramilitary policemen standing guard outside the Grand Bazaar in the Uighur district of the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang region on July 14, 2009. A mosque was closed and many businesses were shuttered a day after police shot dead two Muslim Uighurs, as …" title="Two ethnic Uighur women pass Chinese paramilitary policemen standing guard outside the Grand Bazaar in the Uighur district of the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang region" style="height: auto; max-width: 990px; width: 640px; display: block; min-width: 100%;"><cite style="font-family:inherit;font-style:normal;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images</cite><address style="font-family:inherit;font-style:normal;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px 7px 0px 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px 7px 0px 0px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;border-right:1px dotted rgb(153,153,153);text-transform:uppercase;color:rgb(0,127,175)">EDWIN MORA</address>19 May 2019<span class="gmail-byC" style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:600;font-stretch:normal;font-size:10px;line-height:14px;margin:0px 0px 5px;outline:0px;padding:1px 4px 2px;vertical-align:baseline;border:1px solid rgb(0,0,0);display:inline-block;height:14px;min-width:10px;background:none 0px 0px repeat scroll rgb(0,0,0);border-radius:3px;color:rgb(255,255,255);text-align:center">1499</span><div id="gmail-PollyC" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px 0px 15px;outline:0px;padding:5px 0px;vertical-align:baseline;height:15px;border-top:2px solid rgb(0,0,0);border-bottom:1px solid rgb(85,85,85);display:flex"><span class="gmail-amplitude-play-pause gmail-amplitude-paused" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px 0px 0px 10px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;display:flex"></span><span style="font-weight:700;display:block;text-align:center;font-family:BebasNeueRegular,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)"></span><span class="gmail-amplitude-current-time" style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:right">6:27</span></div><div class="entry-content" style="font-family:Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:16px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;border:none;color:rgb(17,17,17)"><h2 style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:22px;line-height:1.3em;margin:10px 0px 1em;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;clear:both;letter-spacing:0px">A Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official conceded this week that Beijing had imposed draconian restrictions on Ramadan practices in Muslim-majority Xinjiang, denying reports of a blanket ban on activities during the holy month.</h2><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:1em 0px 0.75em;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Dolkun Isa, the exiled head of the Germany-based World Uighur Congress, told Voice of America (<a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/diplomat-confirms-restrictions-on-ramadan-in-xinjiang/4921199.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" class="gmail-x5l" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">VOA</a>) that the CCP has intensified efforts to stifle Ramadan this year, urging Muslims to eat pork in violation of Islamic rules, imposing fasting restrictions, banning headscarves, prohibiting prayer, and other hurdles to the holy month.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">His revelation came on Thursday, the same day that Radio Free Asia (<a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/language-05162019163951.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" class="gmail-x5l" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">RFA</a>), citing a new <a href="https://docs.uhrp.org/pdf/UHRP_Resisting_Chinese_Linguistic_Imperialism_May_2019.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" class="gmail-x5l" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">report</a> by the U.S.-based Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), reported that Beijing is implementing a policy of “linguistic imperialism” to marginalize the ethnic group’s language with the purpose of eradicating their “ethnic identity.”</p><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/1003622/Breitbart.ROS.Body1_0__container__" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:auto;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;border:0pt none"></div><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">China has long oppressed its Uighur (or Uyghur) minority with the intent of erasing their religious and ethnic identity by coercing them into pledging loyalty to the communist party.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">VOA learned from Isa “that Uighurs who are working in the public sector and students are asked to appear daily at canteens during lunch or they will be accused of secretly fasting and hiding ‘extremist’ tendencies.”</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">He revealed that Beijing mandates that some Uighur public workers ignore <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2019/05/08/ramadan-in-china-razed-mosques-praying-restrictions-concentration-camps-for-muslims/" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">Ramadan</a>, going as far as ordering the predominantly Muslim ethnic group to consume pork during the holy month, a practice forbidden by Islam.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">“In some cases, Uighur employees are forced to take home pork and ordered to share with their families,” Isa told VOA. “The restrictions on Ramadan have been in place every year since 2016, but they are especially hard this year.”</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Xinjiang, China’s largest province, is home to the highest concentration of the country’s Muslim minority — mainly Uighurs, but also Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, among others.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">“In their attack on Uyghur culture and identity, Chinese officials have portrayed the Uyghur language as ‘incompatible with modernity’ and are removing its relevance from the education system and public life,” RFA pointed out, citing the UHRP report.<br>In other words, the Chinese Communist Party is moving the ban the Uighur language altogether.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">UHRP reported:</p><blockquote style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:30px 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 30px;vertical-align:baseline;border-left:5px solid rgb(204,204,204);quotes:"" """><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Following a pattern of broader development policy that has promoted the adoption of [majority] Han [Chinese] civilization as central to modernization, China has moved to diminish the status of the Uyghur language in society.</p></blockquote><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">“The CCP is making every effort to erase our culture,” Abduweli Ayup, a Uighur scholar and linguist mentioned in the UHRP report, declared.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Isa acknowledged that language is the most essential aspect of an individual’s ethnic identity.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">He told RFA:</p><blockquote style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:30px 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 30px;vertical-align:baseline;border-left:5px solid rgb(204,204,204);quotes:"" """><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">China is doing everything in its power to erase the Uyghur language—beginning in kindergarten—from every aspect of life, which is in violation of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law, the constitution and the country’s international obligations.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">The Uyghur language is one of the most ancient Turkic languages and has been used to make significant contributions to human civilization.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">If the Uyghur language is erased, an inalienable part of human civilization will be lost. Therefore, it is not only the duty of Uyghurs to save and preserve the Uyghur language, but also the duty of the international community.</p></blockquote><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Since 2017, Beijing has intensified its Muslim crackdown, destroying their worshipping sites and forcing them into “concentration camps” that the Chinese government claims are “vocational” centers aimed at combating religious extremisms, ethnic separatism, and violent terrorism.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Zhao Lijian, the deputy chief of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, denied that China is in any way preventing all Muslims from observing Ramadan, noting that Beijing has only imposed some restrictions.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">“Muslims are free to fast in Xinjiang,” he wrote on <a href="https://twitter.com/zlj517/status/1125301485993177088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1125301485993177088&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Fnational-security%2F2019%2F05%2F08%2Framadan-in-china-razed-mosques-praying-restrictions-concentration-camps-for-muslims%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" class="gmail-x5l" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">Twitter</a> on May 6.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">“Restrictions are with Communist Party members, who are atheists; government officials, who shall discharge their duties; students who are with compulsory education & hard learning tasks,” Lijian added.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">VOA noted:</p><blockquote style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:30px 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 30px;vertical-align:baseline;border-left:5px solid rgb(204,204,204);quotes:"" """><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Chinese officials do not disclose how many people fall under those [communist member] categories. But the groups would include as many as two million Uighurs who are believed to be undergoing compulsory education in prison camps in Xinjiang.</p></blockquote><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Despite the Chinese diplomat’s assertion that Beijing is not completely blocking Muslim religious practices Ramadan, human rights activists, and Uighur advocacy groups have sounded the alarm about the CCP’s expansion of repressive tactics against thousands of Uighurs during the holy month.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">U.S. officials believe China has sent up to <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2019/05/06/feds-china-muslim-crackdown-number-detainees-may-have-tripled-less-than-1-year/" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">three million</a> of its Muslim minorities, mainly Uighurs, to extrajudicial “concentration camps” also dubbed “re-education” or “mind-transformation” centers.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">At the facilities, the Muslim detainees and some Uighur Christian converts, are subjected to systemic torture, disappearances, executions, and arbitrary detentions in an effort to coerce them to denounce their religion in favor of the communist party.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">VOA reported:</p><blockquote style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:30px 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 30px;vertical-align:baseline;border-left:5px solid rgb(204,204,204);quotes:"" """><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">The [Chinese] government’s April 2017 regulations to “prevent extremism” drew international outcry, with critics saying they violated basic human rights and religious freedom.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">According to the state-run newspaper <em style="font-family:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">China Daily</em>, the regulations forbid people in the region from wearing full-face coverings and long beards. They also prohibit them from “choosing names in an abnormal way.”</p></blockquote><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Most Muslim governments often quick to repudiate alleged mistreatments of fellow Muslims in the West and Israel, namely as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Nigeria, have <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-02-14/turkey-changes-its-tune-chinas-crackdown-against-muslims" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" class="gmail-x5l" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">kept mostly silent</a> over the persecution of coreligionists in China, seemingly concerned about angering Beijing.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Given that Uighurs share cultural and linguistic similarities with other Turkic ethnic, Turkey felt compelled to speak out against the persecution of Islam adherents in China.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">To a much lesser extent, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-12/anwar-is-appalled-by-suu-kyi-criticizes-china-s-muslim-camps" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" class="gmail-x5l" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">some</a> politicians in <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2019/01/are-indonesia-and-malaysia-ready-to-stand-up-for-chinas-muslims/" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" class="gmail-x5l" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">Malaysia, and Indonesia</a>, rather than their government as a whole, have also <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/02/05/indonesias-opposition-takes-up-the-uighur-cause/" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" class="gmail-x5l" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">condemned</a> the practice.</p><p style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0.75em 0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">The 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (<a href="https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/03/14/organisation-islamic-cooperation-commends-china-treatment-muslims/" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" class="gmail-x5l" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">OIC</a>) and Pakistan <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/12/21/pakistan-defends-ally-chinas-crackdown-muslims-foreign-media-sensationalized-issue/" style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,127,175);text-decoration-line:none">praised</a> China’s treatment of its fellow Muslims, dealing a blow to the suffering Uighurs.</p></div><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies                     <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone:  (215) 898-7475<br>Fax:  (215) 573-2138                                      <br><br>Email:  <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a>    <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>