美联社：中国阻止维吾尔族穆斯林封斋

【美联社8月3日北京讯】中国阻止一些远在西部地区的新疆穆斯林在斋月期间封斋。官方称，此举动出于对身体健康的考虑，而其他人周五表示这是一项危险的促使穆斯林群体世俗化的活动，可能产生事与愿违的结果。

新疆几个城市、县和乡政府在他们的网站上贴出了禁止或阻止中共党员、公务员、学生和老师在斋月期间封斋的命令。30天的斋月里，全世界穆斯林从黎明到傍晚斋戒饮食。

官方媒体环球时报星期五的报道引用当地发言人侯汉敏的话称，当局鼓励人们为了学习和工作“保持适当的饮食”，但没有强迫任何人在斋月期间进食。

新疆居住着传统的维吾尔族穆斯林群体。被多数的汉族统治的维吾尔人当中酝酿已久的怨恨和对汉族移民的涌入产生的反感时不时地在化成致命的暴力。

熟悉当地局势的人表示，这样在斋月期间阻止参与宗教活动的举措不是头一次，但今年的情形显得更加紧张。

据（美国）加利福尼亚州波莫纳学院人类学教授格拉德尼称，相比往年，今年的举动“更加公开和上下协调一致”。他还表示，某些地方，共产党领导人送饭到乡村老人家里，并试图让他们坏斋。格拉德尼是中国穆斯林问题专家。

“我认为这是一种促使维吾尔穆斯林世俗化的误导性尝试，而我感觉这样会适得其反，”格拉德尼说道。“因为没有尊重他们宗教习俗，这会让维吾尔人对党更加恼怒。”

在新疆分裂主义情绪普遍存在的，一些维吾尔人还倡导武力反抗。一小部分人被穆斯林圣战思想所极端化，并在阿富汗和巴基斯坦边境区域接受训练。

2009年7月，发生在首府乌鲁木齐的维吾尔人和汉人之间的骚乱造成近200人死亡。维吾尔活动人士称，此起骚乱是数十年来被压抑和对中国统治丧失信心的结果。

而对此，中国采取的措施是增加警力并对伊斯兰教活动施加限制。实际上，这些举动使局势变得更加紧张起来。

过去几个月，新疆当局发起了打击非法宗教学校的活动。他们认为，这些学校正是滋生极端主义和分裂主义思想的地方。

该地区发言人候声称，将与宗教极端势力和恐怖势力的战斗进行到底。

“宗教极端主义跟暴力和恐怖主义紧密联系在一起，因而打压这些势力是我们工作之重，”候的话如此被引用。

目前在北京的维吾尔族经济学家伊力哈木·土赫提说道，今年斋月期间的限制正在更加严厉地进行，一些地区官员要求人们签署不参与宗教活动的承诺书。

伊力哈木说道，这些规定表现出来就以新疆的维吾尔人为对象。他解释道，疆内的哈萨克和回族穆斯林和疆外的维吾尔人并没有面这种限制。

在北京的中央民族大学，即伊力哈木教书的学校却没有阻止封斋的通知。包括10来名维吾尔族在内的近70名穆斯林学生，晚上在学校旁边的餐厅一起开斋，他说道。

他表示，今年秋季将在北京召开的十年一度的换届选举之前当局特别担心在新疆可能发生骚乱。

“因此，他们在许多地方加强控制，不仅是宗教。但这会造成一些新的问题，得到的效果可能是相反的结果”他说道。

星期一，美国国务院发布全球宗教自由报告。报告批评新疆当局“对宗教活动的镇压和限制”，并未能“区分和平宗教活动和犯罪或恐怖活动。”

中国外交部驳回美国的报告有偏见，并声称这是干涉中国内政。

作者：ALEXA OLESEN      译者：维吾尔在线

（中文维吾尔在线首发，转载请注明出处）

原文：

China discourages fasting for Uighur Muslims

By ALEXA OLESEN, Associated Press – Aug 3, 2012

BEIJING (AP) — China is discouraging some Muslims in the far western region of Xinjiang from fasting during Ramadan. The government says the move is motivated by health concerns, but others said Friday that it's a risky campaign to secularize the Muslim minority that will likely backfire.

Several city, county and village governments in Xinjiang have posted notices on their websites banning or discouraging Communist Party members, civil servants, students and teachers from fasting during the religious holiday. Muslims around the world abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk during the 30-day period.

Regional spokeswoman Hou Hanmin was quoted in the state-run Global Times newspaper Friday as saying authorities encourage people to "eat properly for study and work" but don't force anyone to eat during Ramadan.

Xinjiang is home to the traditionally Muslim Uighur ethnic group. Long-simmering resentment among Uighurs over rule by China's Han majority and an influx of migrants has sporadically erupted into deadly violence.

Those familiar with the region say attempts to restrict participation in Ramadan are not new, but this year's campaign is more intense.

There is "a much more public and concerted effort" than in previous years and in some cases Communist Party leaders are delivering food to village elders to try to get them to break their fast, according to Dru Gladney, a professor of anthropology at Pomona College in California and an expert on China's Muslim minorities.

"I think it is a misguided effort to try to secularize the Uighurs and my feeling is it will backfire," said Gladney. "It makes the Uighurs even more angry at the party for not honoring their religious customs."

Separatist sentiment is rife in Xinjiang, with some Uighurs advocating armed rebellion. A smaller fringe has been radicalized by militant calls for Muslim holy war and trained in camps across the border in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In July 2009, rioting between Uighurs and Han Chinese killed nearly 200 people in Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi. Uighur activists say the riots were the result of decades of pent-up frustration with Chinese rule.

China has responded by boosting police presence and restricting the practice of Islam — moves that have ratcheted up tensions.

Over the last few months, authorities in Xinjiang have stepped up a campaign against illegal religious schools, which they believe are fomenting extremism and separatist thought.

Hou, the regional spokeswoman, said battling religious extremism and terror in the region remains a priority.

"Religious extremism is closely related to violence and terrorism, and cracking down on these is one of our top priorities," Hou was quoted as saying.

Ilham Tohti, a Beijing-based Uighur economist, said this year's campaign against participation in Ramadan was being more strictly enforced, with officials in some areas requiring people to sign pledges that they won't take part in religious activities.

Tohti said the campaign appeared aimed solely at Uighurs in Xinjiang, noting that Kazakh and Hui Muslims in Xinjiang and Uighurs outside the region face no such restrictions.

At the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing, where Tohti teaches, there have been no warnings against taking part in Ramadan and up to 70 Muslim students, including about 10 Uighurs, gather nightly at a local restaurant next to campus to break their fast, he said.

He said officials may be particularly nervous about potential unrest in Xinjiang in the lead up to a once-a-decade leadership transition that will kick off in Beijing in the fall.

"As a result they are tightening control measures in many areas, not just religion, but this could give rise to new problems and they may end up with an outcome that is the opposite of what they were seeking," he said.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department released a global report on religious freedom that criticized authorities in Xinjiang for their "repressive restrictions on religious practices" and failure to "distinguish between peaceful religious practice and criminal or terrorist activities."

China's Foreign Ministry dismissed the U.S. report as biased and called it interference in Chinese affairs.

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.