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China constructs toilet after demolishing Uyghur mosque in Xinjiang; Pakistan still won't react

Pakistan pretends it doesn't even know what's going on in Xinjiang and China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims

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The Chinese national flag flies outside the mosque at the Xinjiang International Grand Bazar during a government-organised trip in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China. (Reuters photo for representation)
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A public toilet has been erected on the site of a demolished mosque in Atush (in Chinese, Atushi) city, in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

Some observers believe it is a mission of the Chinese Communist Party aimed at breaking the spirit of Uyghur Muslims.

Pakistan pretends it doesn't even know what's going on in Xinjiang. 

"Pakistan foreign-policy agenda carries a contradiction at its heart. Pakistan seeks to project themselves as a global defender of Islam, but he won’t utter a peep about the most egregious persecutions of Muslims in China." said an officer working with the security establishment.

China has waged a war on its Muslims targeting their culture, history, and religion. Those in Xinjiang cannot do much about it. 

China is now home to more than 22 million Muslims, including some 11 million Uyghurs. Mosques and other religious sites in Xinjiang were badly damaged during the political upheaval of China’s 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.

Directive to destroy Muslim places of worship en masse is part of the Mosque Rectification campaign which commenced in 2016. This is part of a series of hard-line policies under Xi Jinping, predates the mass incarceration of as many as 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a vast network of internment camps in the XUAR.

A report from Radio Free Asia which recently conducted a telephonic interview with Uyghur reported that 

Local people say, there was no need for the public toilet in the community since most people have restrooms at their residence and hardly any tourists visit this place. Toilet was likely built to cover up the ruins of the destroyed Tokul mosque, as well as for the needs of inspecting groups or cadres visiting the area. As per the community chief, the restroom construction is complete but not open for use yet.

In Hotan (Hetian) prefecture’s Lop (Luopu) county reported that authorities were planning to use a site of a former mosque to open an “activities center” that would serve as a spot for entertainment. 

In Hotan city’s Ilchi township a former mosque site there was slated for conversion into a factory to produce underwear for a Sichuan-based company.

This is not the only mosque demolished, earlier Azna mosque and Bastaggam mosque had been destroyed and replaced with “a convenience store” that sells alcohol and cigarettes, the use of which is frowned upon in Islam.

As per reports, as per Mosque Rectification campaign, CCP authorities have destroyed some 70 percent of the mosques across the XUAR.

In addition to mosques, the Chinese authorities have been systematically destroying Muslim cemeteries and other religious structures. An investigation carried out by Agency France-Presse (AFP) revealed that at least 45 cemeteries in the XUAR had been destroyed from 2014 to date. The sites were turned into parks or parking lots or remained empty lots.

The reason quoted by the authorities behind this campaign is “social safety”.

Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) published a report titled “Demolishing Faith: The Destruction and Desecration of Uyghurs Mosques and Shrines,” which uses geolocation and other techniques to show that anywhere between 10,000 and 15,000 mosques, shrines, and other religious sites in the region were destroyed between 2016 and 2019.

People are approaching the government and other Muslim organisations to take action against China for this 'desecration'.

This is not the only incident explaining the atrocities this minority face. They are forced to live in deplorable conditions and made to work in factories. Sometimes forced to eat pork and drink alcohol. All this is a part of the big picture wherein, China wants to abolish this minority race completely from their country.

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