Kashgar mosque open for tourists closed for worshippers

09-07-2023

Marios Putro

South and East Asia Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

According to officials in the historic Xinjiang city of Kashgar, Chinese authorities have started selling tickets to visitors to visit the Id Kah Mosque, where they have long denied access to Muslim Uyghurs from worship except for special occasions of holy days and propaganda reasons (Hoshur, 2023).

 Since 2016, the mosque has largely been shuttered for prayer due to a harsh crackdown by Chinese authorities on the Uyghur religion and culture in Xinjiang in an attempt to fight religious extremism that China believes is responsible for terrorist attacks. Uyghurs first shared information about the distribution of tickets to visit the mosque last week on the Chinese short-video platform Duoyin, and then on Facebook. It was also mentioned in the advertising for a travel company situated in the Xinjiiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), which stated that admittance was free for those 65 years of age and above and that visitors had to pay 20-40 yuan (US$2.75-5.50) for tickets, depending on their ages. When preparing trips for dignitaries from other areas of the world, authorities reportedly permit small groups of elderly worshipers to pray during Ramadan and other Islamic holy days or for propaganda purposes to give the idea that Uyghurs are not forbidden from worshiping. The Chinese had the Id Kah Mosque converted into a museum, according to those who witnessed the latest social media post regarding tickets being sold. The mosque was open for visitors but not for worshipers, according to Kashgar police, who also advised contacting local travel agencies. agencies for additional details.  According to standard procedure, the officer who made the statement chose not to be identified. "I am not sure how much money each visitor pays, but I am positive that people are allowed to enter the mosque," the officer stated.  But no one is permitted to pray since the mosque charges admission, he added. But the government arranges for people to offer prayers inside the mosque. They are the only ones who are able to pray. For the past five or six years, it has been this way (Hoshur, 2023).

According to the Uyghur Human Rights Project, a U.S.-based activist organization, up to 16,000 mosques, or nearly 65% of all mosques, have been destroyed or damaged as a result of government policy since around 2017. A few well-known mosques are still open but are being watched, while other mosques have been closed but left standing.

The actions, coupled with the arbitrary arrest of an estimated 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in internment camps and prisons, are part of a larger campaign of persecution to eradicate Uyghur religious customs and culture (Hoshur, 2023).

Sources:

Hoshur, S. (2023b, July 3). Historic Kashgar mosque open for tourists, but not worshipers. Radio Free Asia. Retrieved July 9, 2023, from https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/id-kah-mosque-07032023144243.html