Chinese authorities in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have reportedly detained hundreds of Muslim imams, or religious leaders, according to a Uyghur linguist in exile.
The detention of imams has created an atmosphere in which Uyghurs are afraid of dying, as there will be no one to oversee their funeral rites, reported Radio Free Asia.
According to Radio Free Asia, one of the former detainees living in the Netherlands told him that in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi, people have to register and have to wait when somebody dies.
“They are afraid of dying because the mosques are demolished, and the imams are arrested, and there is no possibility to hold a funeral, to hold the ceremony… It’s very tragic,” said another former detainee.
Meanwhile, Rachel Harris, a professor of ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, noted that imams, who are male, are not the only religious figures being targeted in the Uyghur society.
She said: “They (female religious leaders) work with the women, so they officiate over the funerals of women, they teach children to recite the Quran and all that, and they also have an extremely important role in society – mediating disputes, giving advice, conducting all sorts of rituals.”
Harris further urged Uyghur rights groups and others monitoring the region to include female religious leaders in their investigations into mass detentions and other rights abuses in the region, reported Radio Free Asia.
Classified documents known as the China Cables, accessed last year by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, threw light on how the Chinese government uses technology to control Uyghur Muslims worldwide.
