news Human Rights Watch: China is closing down mosques, violating religious freedom

[Komet]

 

        The Chinese government is significantly reducing the number of mosques in Ningxia and Gansu provinces [which have the highest Muslim populations in China after Xinjiang] under its “mosque consolidation” policy, in violation of the right to freedom of religion, Human Rights Watch said today.

 

Chinese authorities have decommissioned, closed down, demolished, and converted mosques for secular use as part of the government’s efforts to restrict the practice of Islam. The authorities have removed Islamic architectural features, such as domes and minarets, from many other mosques.

“The Chinese government is not ‘consolidating’ mosques as it claims, but closing many down in violation of religious freedom,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch. “The Chinese government’s closure, destruction, and repurposing of mosques is part of a systematic effort to curb the practice of Islam in China.”

 

Chinese law allows people to practice only in officially approved places of worship of officially approved religions, and authorities retain strict control over houses of worship. Since 2016, when President Xi Jinping called for the “Sinicization” of religions, which aims to ensure that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the arbiter of people’s spiritual life, state control over religion has strengthened. 

 

“The Chinese government’s policies of Sinicization show a blanket disregard for freedom of religion not only of all Muslims in China, but all religious communities in the country,” Wang said. “Governments concerned about religious freedom should raise these issues directly with the Chinese government and at the United Nations and other international forums.”

 

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/11/22/china-mosques-shuttered-razed-altered-muslim-areas 

 

[Vixen Eyes]

did china ever have a freedom of religion? genuinely asking, i know nothing of the freedoms they('re supposed to) have

[Riverbank]

 

Quote

Chinese authorities have decommissioned, closed down, demolished, and converted mosques

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Chinese law allows people to practice only in officially approved places

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The Chinese government’s policies of Sinicization show a blanket disregard for freedom of religion

Sounds like an apartheid ethnostate to me

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Riverbank

[needs]

5 minutes ago, Vixen Eyes said:

did china ever have a freedom of religion? genuinely asking, i know nothing of the freedoms they('re supposed to) have

Not really.

[SmittenCake]

6 minutes ago, Vixen Eyes said:

did china ever have a freedom of religion? genuinely asking, i know nothing of the freedoms they('re supposed to) have

I was just watching this the other day:

 

 

 

[Revolution]

Muslim countries will praise them for this.

[SmittenCake]

Crazy how Gulf States will do nothing about China's mosque crackdown 

 

Saudi Arabia could have also done something to effect the American economy (stop supplying oil) to show solidary with Palestinian's 

 

but no

 

so much hypocrisy and evil 

[Cameltoe Chariot]

China is Chinaing, more at 11 

[Anthinos]

How is it violating their rights? They are allowed to continue practicing their religion. In general, I think religion should be separated from skin color, sexuality and other characteristics. Religion is an ideology. Religion goes far beyond spirituality. We need to take a more critical look at religions and their teachings. Things like homophobia, misogyny, etc. should no longer be tolerated. Religions must adapt to society and only after this process should they be accepted into society. In the West, religious extremists from all directions get away with everything. They are allowed to propagate hatred, impose their values on other people, and so on. I don't think that's okay.

[DeadInside]

Organized religion is dumb anyways. 

[Ash12345]

53 minutes ago, SmittenCake said:

I was just watching this the other day:

 

 

 

What's the most critical thing that content creator has said about the CCP? If she hasn't made any significant criticisms, I would treat her content with skepticism as potential CCP funded propaganda.

[Jotham]

This has been a thing for a while now unfortunately. I wish HRW released this report sooner.

[Archetype]

1 hour ago, Anthinos said:

How is it violating their rights? They are allowed to continue practicing their religion.

Government mandated demolition of perfectly functional mosques under the justification of "consolidation" removes required physical spaces to worship and practice as a community, which in turn prevents people from practicing their religion in the way it is intended to be done.  This is a clear form of religious oppression and further stigmatizes Chinese Muslims as a persecuted minority in a Han-majority nation. 

 

1 hour ago, Anthinos said:

We need to take a more critical look at religions and their teachings. Things like homophobia, misogyny, etc. should no longer be tolerated.

Ironically the atheistic and male-dominated communist government is homophobic and misogynistic despite the nation and general region being mostly free from religions with homophobic and misogynistic teachings for centuries.  Stigmas are used as tools to control populations and encourage a traditional family structure (which leads to population and economic growth).  It's not that different in the West.  

Edited November 27, 2023 by Archetype

[bestfiction]

This is cultural genocide. You can't eradicate someone's faith, Soviets tried it and failed.

[ZIVERT]

3 hours ago, SmittenCake said:

I was just watching this the other day:

 

 

 

The Hui Muslims are considered ethnically Chinese, and are considered different from the Turkic Uyghurs. The CCP wants to crush the Uyghur movement for independence from the PRC, while the Hui are content. 

 

Anyways, the Muslim world has decided this instance of ethnic cleansing doesn’t matter. Despite many Uyghurs comparing their plight to Palestinians, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas had this to say following his visit to China last year:

During his visit to China last week, Abbas voiced his support for these heinous Chinese policies. A joint statement issued shortly after Abbas met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last Wednesday declared that “Xinjiang-related issues are not human rights issues at all, but anti-violent terrorism, de-radicalization, and anti-separatism.” It added, “Palestine firmly opposes interference in China's internal affairs under the pretext of Xinjiang-related issues.” And that the Chinese policy toward Muslims in Xinjiang has "nothing to do with human rights and is aimed at excising extremism and opposing terrorism and separatism.”

Source - American Muslims for Palestine

[ZIVERT]

Wow, satellite footage also shows how mosques across the country have either been disassembled or altered in order to strip them of their minarets and other Islamic characteristics. This is even outside of the Xinjiang region

 

[Communion]

1 hour ago, ZIVERT said:

Wow, satellite footage also shows how mosques across the country have either been disassembled or altered in order to strip them of their minarets and other Islamic characteristics. This is even outside of the Xinjiang region

 

As someone who has suggested "Arabization" is akin to British colonialism, you and @Revolution must be estastic over China returning the mosques to how they used to look before the 90s, right? I mean, de-Arabization isn't only good when Western countries do it, right? 

[Dreamer2023]

Great The West should start doing this, too. There should be no space for religions that promote hate towards gays.

[AMIT]

Wait, but I was told several times by several ATRL members (including the OP) that Islam is bad (like all the other religions, but suspiciously Islam is the most common target of this kind of rhetoric) and should be cracked down so how come this is a bad thing and a 'human rights' violation? Is religious freedom a 'human right' or not? Or is it just bad because China is the one doing it? (for the record: I do think this is bad and should not be happening under any circumstance, but this kind of stuff exposes how much of ATRL's collective narrative is removed from any historical material analysis or any understanding of the state and how power hierarchies work and is instead drenched in state propaganda to the point of not even knowing what values you uphold and what others you dismiss).

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by AMIT

[Samsara]

14 hours ago, AMIT said:

Wait, but I was told several times by several ATRL members (including the OP) that Islam is bad (like all the other religions, but suspiciously Islam is the most common target of this kind of rhetoric) and should be cracked down so how come this is a bad thing and a 'human rights' violation? Is religious freedom a 'human right' or not? Or is it just bad because China is the one doing it? (for the record: I do think this is bad and should not be happening under any circumstance, but this kind of stuff exposes how much of ATRL's collective narrative is removed from any historical material analysis or any understanding of the state and how power hierarchies work and is instead drenched in state propaganda to the point of not even knowing what values you uphold and what others you dismiss).

 

This is cultural erasure which is remiscent of the brutal and highly suppressive 20th century communist anti-religion policy and is entirely different from some Western countries’ deradicalization and counter-terrorism efforts. 

[Gaia]

Religion is not a human right and should never be considered as such. Absolutely not required to survive. Was just made so humans could cope with the idea of death. So who tf cares about them closing down mosques to one of the most hateful religions there is

[Cloudy]

On 11/27/2023 at 9:42 PM, Anthinos said:

How is it violating their rights? They are allowed to continue practicing their religion. In general, I think religion should be separated from skin color, sexuality and other characteristics. Religion is an ideology. Religion goes far beyond spirituality. We need to take a more critical look at religions and their teachings. Things like homophobia, misogyny, etc. should no longer be tolerated. Religions must adapt to society and only after this process should they be accepted into society. In the West, religious extremists from all directions get away with everything. They are allowed to propagate hatred, impose their values on other people, and so on. I don't think that's okay.

Aren't those some of the same values of the CCP tho? It's always weird how China seems to be in this crusade against Islam as if they don't share similar points of view regarding social issues like LGTBQ+ or the place of women in society. I guess the issue is that xenophobia trumps them all and unless it's not ethnically han chinese it has to be fought and "eliminated".

 

[Cloudy]

17 hours ago, Dreamer2023 said:

Great The West should start doing this, too. There should be no space for religions that promote hate towards gays.

So cristianism as well right?

[Sabrina Carpenter]

do humanity a favor and close Christian churches as well 

[Samsara]

1 hour ago, Gaia said:

Religion is not a human right and should never be considered as such. Absolutely not required to survive. Was just made so humans could cope with the idea of death. So who tf cares about them closing down mosques to one of the most hateful religions there is

Freedom of religion is one of the most fundamental human rights as religion encompasses beliefs, practices and values that are integral to individual identity. It’s so fundamental that without it, a broader range of human rights such as free speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and even privacy rights will cease to exist as well as all these rights emanate from the principle of religious freedom. The state doesn’t discriminate between religious and non-religious beliefs. Thus, should there be a prohibition on religious freedom, it would not only impact religious beliefs but also encroach upon the rights associated with non-religious convictions. Have you heard of a free and democratic state that is atheistic and antireligious? No. Such states were just as oppressive, if not more so, than their theocratic counterparts.