Database Entry: Uyghurs Ordered to Destroy Muslim Architecture Deemed ‘Extremist’ by Authorities
Religious Persecution Destruction of Religious Spaces Pretexts for Detention

Uyghurs Ordered to Destroy Muslim Architecture Deemed ‘Extremist’ by Authorities

July 10, 2019
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villagers in Ghulja (in Chinese, Yining) county, in the XUAR’s Ili Kazakh (Yili Hasake) Autonomous Prefecture, have been forced to remove Muslim ornamentation from buildings in the area



video currently circulating on social media purports to show a Uyghur woman using a shovel to tear down a “mihrab” from her ceiling. Islamic architecture traditionally includes mihrabs, or ornate domed niches built into a wall or ceiling, to denote the correct direction one should face when praying to Mecca.



officials in Kashgar (Kashi) and Hotan (Hetian) prefectures told RFA that Muslims are being made to carve out the domed shape of mihrabs, or to fill them in completely, lest they face punishment that could include detention in an internment camp.



The party secretary said that teams of five or six people that include police officers, cadres, and government officials “walk around inspecting neighborhood homes” to ensure they meet “requirements.”



In cases where homeowners are unable to reshape the mihrabs in their walls, or where mihrabs were carved into a home’s supporting beams, workers are sent in to demolish the building.