Beijing has banned Ramzan for many Muslims in Xinjiang
July 03, 2014  01:53
Ramadan, the Islamic religious festival marked by a month of fasting, officially started June 28 around the world but has been effectively cancelled for many Muslims in Western China. Government offices, hospitals and schools in China's Xinjiang region, where about half the 22 million population is Muslim, have banned the traditional sunup to sundown fast and other religious activities, according to notifications on local school and government websites.

Students, teachers, civil servants and and Communist Party cadre members -- a far-flung group that includes everyone from nurses to engineers to scholars -- are forbidden from fasting and other activities. Government-run websites are running prominent messages explaining the ban on fasting, and lauding Muslims who do not fast.

The crackdown on Ramadan comes amid a string of attacks, many linked to ethnic minorities across the Uyghur region, that have killed hundreds across China since last fall but have been concentrated in the Xinjiang region.

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