Muslims in China told to hand over Quran or face harsh punishment

Chinese authorities are reportedly ordering Muslims in the country “to hand over their prayer mats and copies of the Quran” or else face punishment. Citing a leader in exile, the Independent reports that officials in Xinjiang province have warned members of the Uyghur ethnic minority they must surrender religious items on pain of "harsh punishments." Dilxat Raxit of the (exile) World Uyghur Congress told the US government operated Radio Free Asia (RFA): "We received a notification saying that every single ethnic Uyghur must hand in any Islam-related items from their own home, including Qurans, prayers and anything else bearing the symbols of religion." The directive – reportedly announced via the WeChat social network – also applies to ethnic Kazakh and Kyrgyz Muslims, RFA said on Wednesday. According to a reporton China in 2016-17 by Amnesty International, the communist Beijing government "continued to violate the right to freedom of religion, and crack down on all unauthorised religious gatherings” and Uyghur writers. The 2009 tension between Uighurs and Han Chinese led to “violence that left scores dead.” “Hundreds of people have died in the protracted conflict between separatists and the Chinese government in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, its full name, which sits on China’s far north-western border,” reports the Independent. Even though, Beijing has blamed the problems on Islamist militants, many rights groups claim the violence “in reaction to repressive Chinese policy.” In turn, the rebels claim the region has been “illegally occupied since 1949.” Meanwhile, peaceful protests have taken place alongside bombings and other violent attacks on Chinese security forces and institutions, reports the UK news outlet. According to a report by Press Trust of India (PTI), China dismissed reports that said authorities were seizing copies of the Quran from Muslim families in Xinjiang province as groundless allegations.” 10 million Uyghur Muslims reside in the north-western Xinjiang region. Calling the situation in Xinjiang “sound,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang said that local residents were “working and living in peace.” “We hope relevant parties refrain from making groundless allegations and rumours,” he added.