In the past 3 years, China has closed 1,300 mosques in Ningxia and Gansu

Domes and Minarets of many Mosques were broken and destroyed

Beijing (China) – Chinese authorities 2020 have closed or altered 1,300 mosques in the northern regions of Ningxia and Gansu, home to the highest Muslim population in China after Xinjiang, as part of broader efforts of “Sinicisation” policy, China’s religious minorities, according to a report. “Sinicisation” refers to Xi’s efforts to transform religious beliefs to reflect Chinese culture and society.

Researchers at Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Chinese Government was significantly reducing the number of mosques in the Ningxia autonomous region and Gansu province. Though this is the case, not one Islamic country or the ‘Organisation of Islamic Co-operation’ has uttered a syllable against this Chinese action.

The research done by the ‘Human Rights Watch’ adds

1. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long maintained a tight grip over China’s religious and ethnic minorities, and since 2016 when Xi Jinping, China’s leader, called for the sinicisation of China’s religions, the pace and intensity of mosques alterations has increased

2. In April 2018, Beijing issued a directive stating that government officials should “strictly control the construction and layout of Islamic activity venues” and “adhere to the principle of demolishing more and building less”.

3. The researchers at HRW analysed satellite imagery to examine the mosque consolidation policy in two villages in Ningxia. It found that between 2019 and 2021, the domes and minarets were removed from all seven of the mosques. Four of the mosques were significantly altered: three main buildings were razed and the ablution hall of one was damaged.

4. In Zhongwei, a city with more than 1 million residents, authorities said in 2019 that they had altered 214 mosques, consolidated 58, and banned 37 “illegally registered religious sites”. In the town of Jingui, authorities said they had “rectified” more than 130 sites “with Islamic architectural features”.

David Stroup, of the University of Manchester and Hannah Theaker, a lecturer at the University of Plymouth of England have conducted this investigation.

Editorial Perspectives

• Muslim countries are conveniently silent and blind about these incidents.

• All Muslim countries unanimously blamed the Indian Government for the alleged insult of Islam by the former BJP leader Nupur Sharma. The very same countries are not uttering a word against China which is destroying Islam. This could indicate – their “love” for Islam, double standards, or anti-India stance.