Are Muslims Treated Equally in China?

According to official estimates, there are around 25 million Muslims living in mainland China. Some argue that the exact number of Muslims is as high as 60 million. Whatever the exact number is, the fact remains that Muslims are one of the biggest minority in the country. With the population of 25 million adherents that make Islam the fourth largest religion in China behind Taoism, Buddhism, and Christianity. However, non-religious belief is the most popular belief among the Chinese. That’s probably because of the communist nature of People’s Republic of China.

People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, and during early days of communism in China, the communist government remained hostile towards all religions because religion was seen as a foreign colonialism. Houses of worship including mosques were either demolished or were converted into secular buildings. Although one can argue that in terms of treating religions, China has come a long way from where it was 30 years ago, when religious believers disappeared or were sent to jails in numbers. But Muslims persecution of religious believers still remain there. Muslims are exception when it comes to be the subject of persecution at the hands of the Communist regime.

Persecution of Muslims is not a new thing in China and is as old as Islam in China, but first real accounts of it started from the era of Mongol rule in China. Mongol ruler Genghis Khan openly used to call Muslims slaves and banned the halal way of eating, thus forcing Muslims to adopt the Mongol way of eating. During Dungan revolt, a large chunk of Hui population either migrated or was treated cruelly.

Muslims in China today are diverse from Hui to Uyghurs. They have their own culture that differs a great deal from others. They are subject to different kinds of persecution. Hui are ethnically Chinese and are gelled together in the Chinese nation. They are subject to a similar kind of Persecution as faced by the Buddhists or Christians. Their religious leaders are subject to continuous surveillance, and are given little freedom to practice their religion.

Although the Hui are facing religious discrimination, but another large community Uyghur living in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang is facing a very hard persecution. Uyghur are ethnically Turkic and are very much alienated from mainland China. There has always been a separatist movement in Xinjiang. There are continuous efforts by successive Chinese governments to culturally obliterate Uyghur. There are tensions between the local population and Han migrants. There is a fear among the local population that it will be converted into a minority by the huge influx of Hans. July 2009 Urumqi riots erupted because of these tensions and resulted in around 200 deaths. Restrictions are imposed on Uyghur about how they can raise their children, some calling it cultural genocide.

Although practicing religion is never encouraged in Communist China, but Muslims especially Uyghur are not treated as equal citizens, and are subjected to frequent persecution as per the policy of the government.

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