BEIJING – Chinese authorities have launched a campaign against halalproducts in the name of fighting extremism in the capital of Xinjiang, thefractious northwest region where Muslims are facing a raft of religiousrestrictions.
Beijing has in recent years launched a security crackdown in Xinjiangagainst what it calls separatist elements, and a UN report has citedestimates that up to one million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minoritiesare held in extra-judicial, political re-education camps.
Halal — Arabic for “permissible” — refers to a set of rules guidingMuslims on what is allowed according to the religion. It is frequentlyapplied to food and drinks but also includes other personal hygieneproducts like toothpaste and cosmetics.
Communist Party leaders in Urumqi, the regional capital, on Monday ledcadres in swearing an oath to fight the “pan-halal trend to the end”. In anarticle posted on the city’s official WeChat social media account, partycadres were told to post the same oath on their social media accounts,which included disowning religion.
“My belief is Marxism-Leninism… I must fly the flag high and battle (the)‘pan-halal trend’ to the end, resolute in my beliefs, even to death!” theoath reads. Government officials should also not have dietary restrictions,the statement said, adding work canteens would be changed so officials cantry “cuisines of various nationalities”.
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As part of the campaign, Urumqi’s ethnically Uighur head prosecutor IlshatOsman also wrote an essay titled: “Friend, you do not have to find a halalrestaurant specially for me”.
The state-run Global Times tabloid on Wednesday cited “experts” as sayingthat the “pan-halal” tendency blurs the boundary between religion andsecular life, making it easy to “fall into the mire of religiousextremism”. China launched its “Strike Hard” campaign targeting separatismin Xinjiang in 2014 following deadly violence in the region. – APP/AFP
