Thousands of muslims from the Hui people, an ethnic minority, defend a mosque in southwestern China in a Najiaying village, Yunnan province, fighting back against Chinese authorities’ attempt to demolish the mosque’s dome and minarets on Saturday.
The demonstrators kicked, punched, and threw water bottles in an attempt to push back the black shield wall of the Armed forces, which have been preventing them access to the Najiaying Mosque.
A movement of anger and indignation followed on social media after the events were reported. which would have burst following rumors evoking work of demolition of a mosque.
The images were quickly deleted by the censors in China, but they can still be found, shared on Twitter.
China’s recent religious crackdown and Sinicization of Islam
This attempt of mosque alteration comes under the recent sweeping campaign launched by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and aims to reshape and re-align foreign faiths in China, and making them conform to the traditional Chinese culture.
The Sinicization campaign in China in recent years has knocked down crosses from churches and tattered the ornaments of several mosques.
The court and the Tonghai County Public Security Bureau Procuratorate issued a joint notice on Sunday, according to RFA, saying that a “case” on Saturday, May 27, had seriously disrupted social order, and around 30 demonstrators were reportedly arrested.
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