China constructs toilet on Xinjiang mosque site

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A public toilet has been erected on the site of a demolished mosque in Atush city in northwest China's Xinjiang province. Some observers believe it is a mission of the Chinese Communist Party, aimed at breaking the spirit of Uyghur Muslims. The Chinese Communist Party authorities are accused of aggressively attempting to transform Muslims in Xinjiang into Chinese civilization as an alternative to Islam.

Tang dynasty China first encountered Islam in the seventh century, more than 1,000 years before the Qing dynasty settled what is now Xinjiang. 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.

Locals say that 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 revealed that at least 45 cemeteries in the XUAR had been destroyed from 2014 till 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”.