Chinese government authorities have banned Muslim children from attending religious events during winter break, in a county in western Chinathat is mostly populated by Muslims.
The notification for the ban has been posted online by the education bureau, as authorities step up their suppression of religious freedoms.
School students in Linxia county in Gansu province, home to many members of the Muslim Hui ethnic minority, are prohibited from entering religious buildings over their break, a district education bureau said, according to the notification.
Students must also not read scriptures in classes or in religious buildings, the bureau said, adding that all students and teachers should heed the notice and work to strengthen political ideology and propaganda. China is an atheist, communist state.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the notice.
The Linxia education bureau has declined to comment on the document’s validity.
Xi Wuyi, a Marxist scholar at the state-backed Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an outspoken critic of rising Islamic influence in China, shared the picture and welcomed the apparent move by the authorities.
With the notice, the county was taking concrete action to keep religion and education separate, and sticking strictly to education law, she said on the Weibo social media platform.
Source:
Reuters