Xinjiang Authorities Have Detained Hundreds of Imams, Upending Uyghur Religious Life
Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)
Authorities in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have detained hundreds of Muslim imams, according to a Uyghur linguist in exile, creating an atmosphere in which Uyghurs are “afraid of dying” because there is no one to oversee their funeral rites.
Abduweli Ayup, a Norway-based fellow with the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), said interviews with Uyghurs from the XUAR have revealed that at least 613 imams were swept up in a campaign of extralegal incarceration that has seen up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities held in a vast network of internment camps in the region since early 2017.
“We started this search in 2018, around May … and after the interviews finished in November [that year], I found that the most targeted population was religious figures,” said Ayup, speaking at a Thursday webinar hosted by the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) entitled “Where are the Imams? Evidence for mass detention of Uyghur religious figures.”
“At the time, we had about 300 imams listed [as detained] and then we kept updating the figures and by June, the last update, it was 613 imams listed.”
Ayup, who suffered months of incommunicado detention and torture while imprisoned in 2013-2014 after fighting for social and cultural rights through promotion of Uyghur-language education, said he had also interviewed at least 16 former camp detainees who said the arrests of imams have upended the Uyghur community in the XUAR.
“They told me that after those imams were arrested, Uyghurs became afraid … of dying because there is no imam to [oversee their] funeral,” he said.
One former detainee living in the Netherlands told him that in the XUAR capital Urumqi, “people have to register and have to wait when somebody dies.”
Another former detainee—a scholar based in Sweden—visited the XUAR in 2018 and told Ayup that despite facing regular rights abuses, “now Uyghurs are not afraid of living.”
“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,” he said. “It’s very tragic.”
Female religious leaders
Rachel Harris, a professor of ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, noted that imams, who are male, are not the only religious figures being targeted in Uyghur society.
And while there is not an officially recognized religious category for women in Muslim communities, she noted that female religious leaders “are extremely important in Uyghur society.”
“They don’t officiate in mosques, obviously, they have a role within the home, but they do all of the same kind of important roles that the imam, the male imam do,” said the researcher of expressive culture, religion, and the politics of heritage in the XUAR.
“The [female religious leaders] are working with the women, so they officiate over the funerals of women, they teach children to recite the Qur’an and all that, and they also have an extremely important role in society—mediating disputes, giving advice, conducting all sorts of rituals.”
Harris 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.
Beijing describes the three-year-old network of camps as voluntary “vocational centers,” but reporting by RFA’s Uyghur Service and other media outlets shows that detainees are mostly held against their will in cramped and unsanitary conditions, where they are forced to endure inhumane treatment and political indoctrination.
Reported by RFA’s Uyghur Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
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28 February 2021 India Coronavirus Cases:11,096,731 Deaths:157,051 How to identify Fake News or Messages on Social Media
Beware of Fake News and Fake Messages on Social Media
Always follow websites or social media platforms of traditional media outlets whether newspapers, magazines,Television News Channels or Radio Stations and authentic online only media outlets.They still maintain journalism excellence and stress on reportorial talent.On the other hand, fake news websites run by people with non journalism background and promote their own ideology with fake news and disinformations and obviously conspiracy theories.
But unfortunately mainstream media also manipulates news to establish their story angle.There were various instances when News papers and TV Channels promoted fake news/conspiracy theories in the form of out of context or manipulated pictures/videos and distorted informations.
Always check the URL of any website.Some fake news websites look like the orginal and popular one the same layout,Logo but if you check the URL you may find extra words like if the orginal website's URL is www.xxx.com the duplicate one might be www.xxx.com.co or something like that so first check the URL for authentic informations.
Check whether photos are original or photoshopped.Check Google images for authenticity.You can find help from Google Reverse Images search.
Check the news sources from other websites whether they picked up the story or not.
Whether the website layout is little bit clumsy and obviously grammatical mistakes and spelling mistakes and excessive use of Sex related and sensational and hate stories.Because sex and hate sells.
Follow official websites relating to COVID-19
WHO Clarifies the disinformation about the virus:
COVID-19 virus can be transmitted in areas with hot and humid climates
Cold Weather and Snow can not kill the new coronavirus
Taking a Hot Bath Does Not Prevent COVID-19
COVID-19 Can not be transmitted through mosquito bites
Spraying alcohol or chlorine all over your body will not kill viruses that have already entered your body. Spraying such substances can be harmful to clothes or mucous membranes (i.e. eyes, mouth)
According to World Health Organization (WHO): Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water
Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth . If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early.
Stay at home if you begin to feel unwell, even with mild symptoms such as headache and slight runny nose, until you recover.
Follow WHO guidelines
www.who.int
When you follow COVID-19 related news and messages from social media then check and recheck it before consuming it.Follow journalism mantra: if your mother says she loves you, check it out.
Most of the messages or informations quote different organizations like WHO, UNICEF, UNDP,Cambridge University or other well known institutes,organizations or individual to authenticate the messeges.Check official websites of these organizations if stories are repeated there
Forwarding messages from unknown sources or little known sources, it would be better to ignore it.
Check whether any logo like UNICEF or WHO or other organizations used in the messages which look similar to original logo.
These type of messages are full of Grammatical mistakes and spelling mistakes which are quite uncommon in original messages.
Don't rely on viral social media messages such as Coronavirus Infected Indian Currencies of Rs.500 and Rs.2,000 Notes Found, Muslim Man Spit in Food At Indian Restaurant.....Always Check Authentic Sources.
Some fake messages pretend to be real one like unofficial Twitter handle of international media organizations like BBC,CNN,Washinton Post, New York Times-check the official Twitter handles of media outlets.
You can identify fake messages if the message requests you to share it.
Beware of Fake News or Fake Photos/Videos Relating to Communal Hatred
Always check the fact checking sites if you have some doubts about the authenticity of any information or picture.
www.boomlive.in
www.altnews.in
https://check4spam.com
https://smhoaxslayer.com
www.factchecker.in
www.allsides.com
www.factcheck.org
www.newsbusters.org
www.politifact.com
www.snopes.com
www.propublica.org
The Same Method Applies to You Tube Videos Check the Source the credibility of the Source.To Check Fake You Tube Videos Check and Recheck the sources. Does the person have the legal right to the video posted? Did that person capture the video? Whether it has been altered?
But due to advancement of technology we can not really wipe out fake news.According to experts advent of Artificial Intelligence(AI) some companies small or big one developing technologies that can lay digitally created script to anybody's voice even words,sentences never said by the person.Even they a.re developing a technology which can create fake video footage,images,audios like originals.So be cautious! Rumour-mongers are active everywhere whether in physical world or cyber world.
Without evidence or with fake evidence, a conspiracy theory will always remain a conspiracy theory.
For any further information relating to fake news and how-to search authentic informations from the internet write to us info@crimeandmoreworld.com or Whats App:+916289017966
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